燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志
yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì
Pinyin

Definition

燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志
 - 
yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì
  1. lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

之
zhī
  1. 1 (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de])
  2. 2 him
  3. 3 her
  4. 4 it
之前
zhī qián
  1. 1 before
  2. 2 prior to
  3. 3 ago
  4. 4 previously
  5. 5 beforehand
之后
zhī hòu
  1. 1 afterwards
  2. 2 following
  3. 3 later
  4. 4 after
知
zhī
  1. 1 to know
  2. 2 to be aware
知道
zhī dào
  1. 1 to know
  2. 2 to become aware of
  3. 3 also pr. [zhī dao]
三分之一
sān fēn zhī yī
  1. 1 one third
不败之地
bù bài zhī dì
  1. 1 invincible position
不为人知
bù wéi rén zhī
  1. 1 not known to anyone
  2. 2 secret
  3. 3 unknown
不知不觉
bù zhī bù jué
  1. 1 unconsciously
  2. 2 unwittingly
不知所措
bù zhī suǒ cuò
  1. 1 not knowing what to do (idiom); at one's wits' end
  2. 2 embarrassed and at a complete loss
久而久之
jiǔ ér jiǔ zhī
  1. 1 over time
  2. 2 as time passes
  3. 3 in the fullness of time
之一
zhī yī
  1. 1 one of (sth)
  2. 2 one out of a multitude
  3. 3 one (third, quarter, percent etc)
之上
zhī shàng
  1. 1 above
之下
zhī xià
  1. 1 under
  2. 2 beneath
  3. 3 less than
之中
zhī zhōng
  1. 1 inside
  2. 2 among
  3. 3 in the midst of (doing sth)
  4. 4 during
之内
zhī nèi
  1. 1 inside
  2. 2 within
之外
zhī wài
  1. 1 outside
  2. 2 excluding
之所以
zhī suǒ yǐ
  1. 1 the reason why
之间
zhī jiān
  1. 1 between
  2. 2 among
  3. 3 inter-
之际
zhī jì
  1. 1 during
  2. 2 at the time of

Idioms (20)

一丘之貉
yī qiū zhī hé
  1. 1 jackals of the same tribe (idiom); fig. They are all just as bad as each other.
一之为甚
yī zhī wéi shèn
  1. 1 once is more than enough (idiom)
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
一年之计在于春
yī nián zhī jì zài yú chūn
  1. 1 the whole year must be planned for in the spring (idiom)
  2. 2 early planning is the key to success
一技之长
yī jì zhī cháng
  1. 1 proficiency in a particular field (idiom)
  2. 2 skill in a specialized area (idiom)
一掬同情之泪
yī jū tóng qíng zhī lèi
  1. 1 to shed tears of sympathy (idiom)
一日之计在于晨
yī rì zhī jì zài yú chén
  1. 1 make your day's plan early in the morning (idiom)
  2. 2 early morning is the golden time of the day
一日之雅
yī rì zhī yǎ
  1. 1 lit. friends for a day (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. casual acquaintance
一望而知
yī wàng ér zhī
  1. 1 to be evident at a glance (idiom)
一无所知
yī wú suǒ zhī
  1. 1 not knowing anything at all (idiom); completely ignorant
  2. 2 without an inkling
一知半解
yī zhī bàn jiě
  1. 1 lit. to know one and understand half (idiom); a smattering of knowledge
  2. 2 dilettante
  3. 3 amateur
一箭之仇
yī jiàn zhī chóu
  1. 1 a wrong suffered (idiom)
  2. 2 old grievance
  3. 3 previous defeat
一叶知秋
yī yè zhī qiū
  1. 1 lit. the falling of one leaf heralds the coming of autumn (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. a small sign can indicate a great trend
  3. 3 a straw in the wind
一言以蔽之
yī yán yǐ bì zhī
  1. 1 one word says it all (idiom, from Analects); to cut a long story short
  2. 2 in a nutshell
不以词害志
bù yǐ cí hài zhì
  1. 1 don't let rhetoric spoil the message (idiom); don't get carried away with flowery speech to the detriment of what you want to say
不以辞害志
bù yǐ cí hài zhì
  1. 1 don't let rhetoric spoil the message (idiom); don't get carried away with flowery speech to the detriment of what you want to say
不入虎穴，焉得虎子
bù rù hǔ xué , yān dé hǔ zǐ
  1. 1 How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
不当家不知柴米贵
bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì
  1. 1 a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
不知丁董
bù zhī Dīng Dǒng
  1. 1 forgetting the fate of Ding and Dong (idiom)
  2. 2 unheeding the lessons of the past
不知好歹
bù zhī hǎo dǎi
  1. 1 unable to differentiate good from bad (idiom)
  2. 2 not to know what's good for one
  3. 3 unable to recognize others' good intentions

Sample Sentences