之乎者也 - lit. 之[zhī], 乎[hū], 者[zhě] and 也[yě] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom); fig. archaic expressions - zhī hū zhě yě | Definition | ChinesePod.com

之乎者也

zhī hū zhě yě

Pinyin

Definition

之乎者也

-

zhī hū zhě yě

lit. 之[zhī], 乎[hū], 者[zhě] and 也[yě] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom); fig. archaic expressions

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

zhī

1 (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de])
2 him
3 her
4 it

Yě

1 surname Ye

bù yì lè hū

1 lit. isn't that a joy? (quote from Confucius)
2 fig. (jocularly) extremely
3 awfully

bù bài zhī dì

1 invincible position

zhī yī

1 one of (sth)
2 one out of a multitude
3 one (third, quarter, percent etc)

Idioms (20)

一丘之貉

yī qiū zhī hé

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 once is more than enough (idiom)

一年之计在于春

yī nián zhī jì zài yú chūn

1 the whole year must be planned for in the spring (idiom)
2 early planning is the key to success

一技之长

yī jì zhī cháng

1 proficiency in a particular field (idiom)
2 skill in a specialized area (idiom)

一掬同情之泪

yī jū tóng qíng zhī lèi

1 to shed tears of sympathy (idiom)

Sample Sentences

哇，胡老先生真是我们的大救星啊。我最烦文言文了，什么“之乎者也”，“子曰”，又难懂又没用。天天这么“之乎者也”，地绕来绕去，不晕才怪！

wā ，Hú lǎoxiānsheng zhēn shì wǒmen de dà jiùxīng a 。wǒ zuì fán wényánwén le ，shénme “zhīhūzhěyě ”，“zǐyuē ”，yòu nándǒng yòu méiyòng 。tiāntiān zhème “zhīhūzhěyě ”，de ràoláiràoqù ，bù yūn cái guài ！

Wow, Mr. Hu really was our great liberator. Classical Chinese is the worst. All those modal particles, 'Confucius said', etc. - not only is it hard to understand, it's useless as well. Everyday, 'zhi' this, and 'zhe' that, if that doesn't make you dizzy, I don't know what would!