行不通 (xíng bu tōng) — won't work; impossible; gets nowhere

Definition

A verb phrase meaning a plan, method, or idea 'won't work' or 'is not feasible.' It is intransitive: the object goes before it (这个办法行不通), not after.

verb

won't workimpossiblegets nowhere

行不通。
Zhè ge bàn fǎ xíng bu tōng.
This method won't work.
行不通。
Tā de lǐ lùn zài xiàn shí zhōng xíng bu tōng.
His theory is impractical in reality.
行不通，。
Zhè tiáo lù yǐ jīng xíng bu tōng le, wǒ men huàn yì tiáo ba.
This road is no longer passable; let's take another.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

不通not pass

偏正Modifier + head

行 means go or work and 不通 means not pass, so it says something cannot go through.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

彳亍行

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

辶甬通

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng通tōng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.