鱼与熊掌不可兼得 (魚與熊掌不可兼得)
yú yǔ xióng zhǎng bù kě jiān dé
Pinyin

Definition

鱼与熊掌不可兼得 (魚與熊掌不可兼得)
 - 
yú yǔ xióng zhǎng bù kě jiān dé
  1. lit. the fish and the bear's paw, you can't have both at the same time (idiom, from Mencius); fig. you must choose one or the other
  2. you can't always get everything you want
  3. you can't have your cake and eat it

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

不
bù
  1. 1 (negative prefix)
  2. 2 not
  3. 3 no
可
kě
  1. 1 can
  2. 2 may
  3. 3 able to
  4. 4 to approve
  5. 5 to permit
  6. 6 to suit
  7. 7 (particle used for emphasis) certainly
  8. 8 very
可以
kě yǐ
  1. 1 can
  2. 2 may
  3. 3 possible
  4. 4 able to
  5. 5 not bad
  6. 6 pretty good
得
dé
  1. 1 to obtain
  2. 2 to get
  3. 3 to gain
  4. 4 to catch (a disease)
  5. 5 proper
  6. 6 suitable
  7. 7 proud
  8. 8 contented
  9. 9 to allow
  10. 10 to permit
  11. 11 ready
  12. 12 finished
获得
huò dé
  1. 1 to obtain
  2. 2 to receive
  3. 3 to get

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)

Sample Sentences

你又想减肥，又想吃甜食，鱼与熊掌不可兼得，只能选一个。
nǐ yòu xiǎng jiǎnféi ，yòu xiǎng chī tiánshí ，yúyǔxióngzhǎngbùkějiāndé ，zhǐnéng xuǎn yī ge 。
You want to lose weight and also want to eat dessert. You can't have it both ways. You can only choose one.  
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又想要大房子，又想要附近的交通方便。鱼与熊掌不可兼得，只能选择一个。所以想住大房子，就得住郊区。住小房子，就可以住在市区，但是就比较贵。
yòu xiǎngyào dà fángzi ，yòu xiǎngyào fùjìn de jiāotōng fāngbiàn 。yúyǔxióngzhǎngbùkějiāndé ，zhǐnéng xuǎnzé yī ge 。suǒyǐ xiǎng zhù dà fángzi ，jiù děi zhù jiāoqū 。zhù xiǎo fángzi ，jiù kěyǐ zhù zài shìqū ，dànshì jiù bǐjiào guì 。
You want a big house and also convenient transportation. You cannot have it both ways. You can only choose one. So if you want a big house,  you have to live in the suburbs. If you choose a small one, you can live downtown, but it’s more expensive.
Go to Lesson