人在江湖，身不由己
rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ
Pinyin

Definition

人在江湖，身不由己
 - 
rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ
  1. you can't always do as you like
  2. one has to compromise in this world (idiom)

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

不
bù
  1. 1 (negative prefix)
  2. 2 not
  3. 3 no
人
rén
  1. 1 man
  2. 2 person
  3. 3 people
  4. 4 classifier: 个 gè
  5. 5 classifier: 位 wèi
在
zài
  1. 1 (located) at
  2. 2 (to be) in
  3. 3 to exist
  4. 4 in the middle of doing sth
  5. 5 (indicating an action in progress)
现在
xiàn zài
  1. 1 now
  2. 2 at present
  3. 3 at the moment
  4. 4 modern
  5. 5 current
  6. 6 nowadays
自己
zì jǐ
  1. 1 oneself
  2. 2 one's own

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
一人得道，鸡犬升天
yī rén dé dào , jī quǎn shēng tiān
  1. 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
  3. 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
  4. 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一个天南，一个地北
yī ge tiān nán , yī ge dì běi
  1. 1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一传十，十传百
yī chuán shí , shí chuán bǎi
  1. 1 news pass quickly from mouth to mouth (idiom)
  2. 2 an infectious disease spreads quickly (old meaning)
一则以喜，一则以忧
yī zé yǐ xǐ , yī zé yǐ yōu
  1. 1 happy on the one hand, but worried on the other (idiom)

Sample Sentences

人在江湖，身不由己啊！
rénzàijiānghúshēnbùyóujǐ a ！
A man can't help but go with the tide.
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