只得 (zhǐ dé) — to have no choice but to; to be obliged to

Definition

只得 (zhǐ dé) means 'to have no choice but to,' often from external circumstances rather than a personal rule. Closer to 只好 than to the pure-ability 只能.

adverb
to have no choice but toto be obliged to

Examples

  • 只得
    Yīn wèi tiān qì bù hǎo, wǒ men zhǐ dé qǔ xiāo háng bān.
    Because the weather was bad, we had no choice but to cancel the flight.
  • 只得
    Tā shēng bìng le, zhǐ dé tuī chí huì yì.
    He got sick and had to postpone the meeting.
  • 只得
    Kǎo shì qián méi fù xí, wǒ zhǐ dé yìng zhe tóu pí qù kǎo.
    I didn't review before the exam, so I had no choice but to go take it anyway.
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