一场空 (yī cháng) — all in vain; futile; (efforts) come to nothing

Definição

Exemplos

• 他忙了整整一年，最后却一场空。
  Tā máng le zhěng zhěng yì nián, zuì hòu què yī cháng.
  He was busy for a whole year, but in the end everything came to nothing.
• 如果这次谈判失败，所有准备都将一场空。
  Rú guǒ zhè cì tán pàn shī bài, suǒ yǒu zhǔn bèi dōu jiāng yī cháng.
  If this negotiation fails, all the preparations will be in vain.
• 俗语说‘竹篮打水一场空’，做事不能只想捷径。
  Sú yǔ shuō 'zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī cháng', zuò shì bù néng zhī xiǎng jié jìng.
  As the saying goes, 'drawing water with a bamboo basket — all in vain'; you can't just look for shortcuts when doing things.