事不过三
shì bù guò sān
Pinyin

Definition

事不过三
 - 
shì bù guò sān
  1. a thing should not be attempted more than three times (idiom)
  2. don't repeat the same mistake again and again
  3. bad things don't happen more than three times

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

三
Sān
  1. 1 surname San
不
bù
  1. 1 (negative prefix)
  2. 2 not
  3. 3 no
事
shì
  1. 1 matter
  2. 2 thing
  3. 3 item
  4. 4 work
  5. 5 affair
  6. 6 CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng],回[huí]
三亚
Sān yà
  1. 1 Sanya prefecture level city, Hainan
三十
sān shí
  1. 1 thirty
  2. 2 30
三峡
Sān xiá
  1. 1 Three Gorges on the Chang Jiang or Yangtze, namely: Qutang Gorge 瞿塘峽|瞿塘峡[Qú táng Xiá], Wuxia Gorge 巫峽|巫峡[Wū Xiá] and Xiling Gorge 西陵峽|西陵峡[Xī líng Xiá]
  2. 2 Sanxia or Sanhsia town in New Taipei City 新北市[Xīn běi shì], Taiwan
三文鱼
sān wén yú
  1. 1 salmon (loanword)
三星
Sān xīng
  1. 1 Sanxing or Sanhsing township in Yilan county 宜蘭縣|宜兰县[Yí lán xiàn], Taiwan
  2. 2 Samsung (South Korean electronics company)
三更半夜
sān gēng bàn yè
  1. 1 in the depth of the night
  2. 2 very late at night
三月
Sān yuè
  1. 1 March
  2. 2 third month (of the lunar year)
三角
sān jiǎo
  1. 1 triangle
不久
bù jiǔ
  1. 1 not long (after)
  2. 2 before too long
  3. 3 soon
  4. 4 soon after
不亦乐乎
bù yì lè hū
  1. 1 lit. isn't that a joy? (quote from Confucius)
  2. 2 fig. (jocularly) extremely
  3. 3 awfully
不但
bù dàn
  1. 1 not only (... but also...)
不仅
bù jǐn
  1. 1 not only (this one)
  2. 2 not just (...) but also
不利
bù lì
  1. 1 unfavorable
  2. 2 disadvantageous
  3. 3 harmful
  4. 4 detrimental
不到
bù dào
  1. 1 not to arrive
  2. 2 not reaching
  3. 3 insufficient
  4. 4 less than
不同
bù tóng
  1. 1 different
  2. 2 distinct
  3. 3 not the same
  4. 4 not alike
不堪
bù kān
  1. 1 cannot bear
  2. 2 cannot stand
  3. 3 utterly
  4. 4 extremely
不如
bù rú
  1. 1 not equal to
  2. 2 not as good as
  3. 3 inferior to
  4. 4 it would be better to

Idioms (20)

一不做，二不休
yī bù zuò , èr bù xiū
  1. 1 don't do it, or don't rest (idiom); either give up, or go through to the end
  2. 2 Since we started, we must carry it through whatever happens.
  3. 3 in for a penny, in for a pound
一倡三叹
yī chàng sān tàn
  1. 1 (of literature, music) deeply moving (idiom)
一哭二闹三上吊
yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào
  1. 1 to make a terrible scene (idiom)
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum
一问三不知
yī wèn sān bù zhī
  1. 1 lit. to reply "don't know" whatever the question (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. absolutely no idea of what's going on
  3. 3 complete ignorance
一尘不染
yī chén bù rǎn
  1. 1 untainted by even a speck of dust (idiom); selfless and incorruptible
  2. 2 spotless
一字不提
yī zì bù tí
  1. 1 to not mention a single word (about sth) (idiom)
一山不容二虎
yī shān bù róng èr hǔ
  1. 1 lit. the mountain can't have two tigers (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. this town ain't big enough for the two of us
  3. 3 (of two rivals) to be fiercely competitive
一成不变
yī chéng bù biàn
  1. 1 nothing much changes (idiom); always the same
  2. 2 stuck in a rut
一文不值
yī wén bù zhí
  1. 1 worthless (idiom)
  2. 2 no use whatsoever
一日三秋
yī rì sān qiū
  1. 1 a single day apart seems like three seasons (idiom)
一日不见，如隔三秋
yī rì bù jiàn , rú gé sān qiū
  1. 1 one day apart seems like three years (idiom)
一板三眼
yī bǎn sān yǎn
  1. 1 lit. one strong beat and three weak beats in a measure of music (four beats in the bar) (idiom); fig. scrupulous attention to detail
一毛不拔
yī máo bù bá
  1. 1 stingy (idiom)
一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡
yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang
  1. 1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
一病不起
yī bìng bù qǐ
  1. 1 to fall gravely ill, never to recover (idiom)
一窍不通
yī qiào bù tōng
  1. 1 lit. doesn't (even) enter a single aperture (of one's head)
  2. 2 I don't understand a word (idiom)
  3. 3 it's all Greek to me
一笔不苟
yī bǐ bù gǒu
  1. 1 lit. not even one stroke is negligent (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to write characters (calligraphy) in which every stroke is placed perfectly
一丝不挂
yī sī bù guà
  1. 1 not wearing one thread (idiom); absolutely naked
  2. 2 without a stitch of clothing
  3. 3 in one's birthday suit
一丝不苟
yī sī bù gǒu
  1. 1 not one thread loose (idiom); strictly according to the rules
  2. 2 meticulous
  3. 3 not one hair out of place
一着不慎，满盘皆输
yī zhāo bù shèn , mǎn pán jiē shū
  1. 1 One careless move and the whole game is lost. (idiom)

Sample Sentences

王强说：“我不觉得，事不过三，这次感觉是来真的。”
Wáng Qiáng shuō ：“wǒ bù juéde ，shìbùguòsān ，zhècì gǎnjué shì lái zhēnde 。”
Wang Qiang said, "I don't think so. These things don't happen three times in a row. I think this time it's real."
Go to Lesson