巧婦難為無米之炊

Chinese

			to be difficult to do; to make it difficult for
trad. (巧婦難為無米之炊/巧婦難爲無米之炊)		巧婦	難為/難爲	無米之炊
simp. (巧妇难为无米之炊)		巧妇	难为	无米之炊
Literally: “the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qiǎofù nánwéi wúmǐzhīchuī

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄈㄨˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄨㄟˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˇ ㄓ ㄔㄨㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): haau² fu⁵ naan⁴ wai⁴ mou⁴ mai⁵ zi¹ ceoi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qiǎofù nánwéi wúmǐzhīchuī
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄠˇ ㄈㄨˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄨㄟˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˇ ㄓ ㄔㄨㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ciǎofù nánwéi wúmǐjhihchuei
    • Wade–Giles: chʻiao³-fu⁴ nan²-wei² wu²-mi³-chih¹-chʻui¹
    • Yale: chyǎu-fù nán-wéi wú-mǐ-jr̄-chwēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: cheaufuh nanwei wumiijychuei
    • Palladius: цяофу наньвэй умичжичуй (cjaofu nanʹvɛj umičžičuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ fu⁵¹ nän³⁵ weɪ̯³⁵ u³⁵ mi²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: haau² fu⁵ naan⁴ wai⁴ mou⁴ mai⁵ zi¹ ceoi¹
    • Yale: háau fúh nàahn wàih mòuh máih jī chēui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: haau² fu⁵ naan⁴ wai⁴ mou⁴ mai⁵ dzi¹ tsoey¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hao² fu⁵ nan⁴ wei⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵ ji¹ cêu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /haːu̯³⁵ fuː¹³ naːn²¹ wɐi̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mɐi̯¹³ t͡siː⁵⁵ t͡sʰɵy̯⁵⁵/

Proverb

巧婦難為無米之炊

1. you can’t make bricks without straw