25 Common Chinese Idioms You Should Know - Part 3

In our previous blogpost, 25 Common Chinese Idioms You Should Know - Part 2 , we introduced 5 成语 (chéng yǔ) - Chinese idioms - that we hope you enjoyed learning and have already found to be useful!

In this blogpost you'll find 5 more fun and frequently used Chinese idioms, taught and explained in long-form video, short-form video, image and text for your learning convenience!

11

mò míng qí miào

莫明其妙

inexplicable, baffling

Characters

• 莫 (mò) - no one
• 名 (míng) - to express, to describe
• 其 (qí) - refers to whatever is being talked about
• 妙 (miào) - mysterious

Tips

There's an alternative written form for this 成语 (chéng yǔ) where the second character is actually 明 (míng) - to understand. These two forms are only slightly different in meaning. 莫名其妙 (mò míng qí miào) is "inexplicable" in that one finds something hard to describe, and 莫名其妙 (mò míng qí miào) is "baffling" in that one finds something hard to understand. They are so similar, however, that they are basically interchangeable and often written either way without regard for which is more accurate.

Examples

Someone asks you why you decided to learn Chinese and you say:

wǒ yě bù zhī dào wèi shén me jiù shì mò míng qí miào de xǐ huan shang le zhōng wén

我也不知道为什么，就是莫名其妙地喜欢上了中文。

I don't know why, I just inexplicably came to like Chinese!

You are talking about how your friend suddenly backed out of a planned trip and you say:

tā zhè ge rén zhēn shì yǒu diǎn mò míng qí miào míng míng shuō hǎo le yì qǐ qù lǚ yóu tū rán yòu shuō bú qù le

他这个人真是有点莫明其妙，明明说好了一起去旅游，突然又说不去了。

He really is kind of baffling, clearly saying that we'd travel together, then suddenly he said he's not going anymore.

12

wú néng wéi lì

无能为力

powerless, helpless

Characters

• 无 (wú) - to not have
• 能 (néng) - ability
• 为 (wéi) - as
• 力 (lì) - power

Tips

无能为力 (wú néng wéi lì) is most often used when you are unable to give someone the help they are asking you for.

Examples

Your friend asks to borrow 100 yuan and you only have 50. You could say:

wǒ zhǐ yǒu wǔ shí kuài zài duō jiù zhēn de wú néng wéi lì le

我只有50块，再多就真的无能为力了。

I only have 50 yuan, any more and I really am powerless.

You are powerless to stop something from happening, and you say:

mā ma de bìng yuè lái yuè yán zhòng wǒ què yì diǎn yě wú néng wéi lì xī wàng yī shēng néng hěn kuài zhì hǎo tā

妈妈的病越来越严重，我却一点也无能为力，希望医生能很快治好她！

Mom's illness is getting more and more serious, I am completely helpless, I hope the doctor can cure her quickly!

13

yǒu tiáo bù wěn

有条不紊

methodical, orderly

Characters

• 有 (yǒu) - to have
• 条 (tiáo) - order
• 不 (bù) - not
• 紊 (wěn) - disorder

Tips

有条不紊 (yǒu tiáo bù wěn) is used to describe when someone is doing something in an orderly or methodical way.

Examples

You're talking about one of your best employees and you say:

tā shì qing suī rán duō dàn quán dōu chǔ lǐ de yǒu tiáo bù wěn de

他事情虽然多，但全都处理得有条不紊的。

Even though he has a lot to do, he does it all methodically.

You finish listening to someone give a great speech and you say:

tā zhè cì de yǎn jiǎng fēi cháng hǎo nèi róng bǎ wò de yǒu tiáo bù wěn de

他这次的演讲非常好，内容把握得有条不紊的。

His talk this time was fantastic, he has an ordered and methodical grasp of the content.

14

xiǎng fāng shè fǎ

想方设法

to rack one's brains to find a way

Characters

• 想 (xiǎng) - to think
• 设 (shè) - to design
• 方法 (fāng fǎ) - method

Tips

方法 (fāng fǎ) is split up and combined with 想 (xiǎng) and 设 (shè) to form 想方设法 (xiǎng fāng shè fǎ), which is used to describe that someone has tried really hard to figure out a way to do something.

Examples

You are talking about your boss who's trying to grow the company and you say:

wèi le ràng gōng sī fā zhǎn de gèng hǎo tā xiǎng fāng shè fǎ dào chù xún zhǎo tóu zī

为了让公司发展得更好，她想方设法，到处寻找投资。

In order to help the company develop better, she racked her brains, and looked everywhere for investments.

Someone tries to dodge responsibility for their mistake and you say: 

xiàng mù shī bài hòu tā xiǎng fāng shè fǎ de bǎ zhǔ yào zé rèn tuī gěi bié rén

项目失败后，他想方设法地把主要责任推给别人。

After the project failed, he tried everything he could think of to push the main responsibility onto others.

15

qǐ yǒu cǐ lǐ

岂有此理

absurd, preposterous

Characters

• 岂 (qǐ) - how (literary character used to precede an emphatic question)
• 有 (yǒu) - to have
• 此 (cǐ) - this
• 理 (lǐ) - logic, reason

Tips

岂有此理 (qǐ yǒu cǐ lǐ) could be literally translated as "How could this be logical!?" and is used when expressing anger or frustration over something that is absurd or preposterous.

Examples

You're talking about that same person who dodged responsibility for their mistake (see previous example) and you say:

tā zuò cuò le shì fǎn dào guài bié rén zhēn shì qǐ yǒu cǐ lǐ

他做错了事，反倒怪别人，真是岂有此理！

He made a mistake, and then blamed others, it's completey absurd!

You try to make a refund and are denied. You could say:

zhè ge diàn míng míng zhī qián shuō kě yǐ wú tiáo jiàn tuì huò dàn xiàn zài què bù chéng rèn le zhēn shì qǐ yǒu cǐ lǐ

这个店明明之前说可以无条件退货，但现在却不承认了，真是岂有此理！

This store clearly stated before that one can get a refund unconditionally, but now they won't acknowledge it, it's totally ridiculous!

There you have it! 5 more useful 成语 (chéng yǔ) to add to your Chinese idiom repertoire!