HSK 6 · Ideas

半途而废 bàntú'érfèi “to give up halfway” in Chinese

Traditional 半途而廢

What 半途而废 means

  1. to give up halfway
  2. to give up halfway (idiom)
  3. leave sth unfinished

How to say 半途而废

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale半bàn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale途tú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale而ér2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale废fèi4th tone, falling

半途而废 in a sentence

  1. 不要半途而废。

    Búyào bàntú'érfèi.

    Don’t give up halfway.

    Sentence #1329330 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 半途而废是你所能做的最糟糕的事情。

    Bàntú'érfèi shì nǐ suǒ néng zuò de zuì zāogāo de shìqing.

    Giving up halfway is the worst thing you can do.

    Sentence #1394876 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 半途而废 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 半 (bàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
半bànhalf
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 牛cow · niú

Memory aidAn ox 牛 split 丷 down the middle: half.

The character 途 (tú) with each of its parts in a different colour
途túway
  • 余surplus · yúSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 余 (yú) hints at the sound. Compare it with tú.

The character 而 (ér) drawn as one shape
而érand

而 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a beard. Today it links ideas: and, but.

The character 废 (fèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
废fèito abolish
  • 广shelter · guǎng
  • 发to issue · fāSound part

How to write 半途而废

半 5 strokes · 途 10 strokes · 而 6 strokes · 废 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

半途而废 (bàntú'érfèi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 半途而废 (bàntú'érfèi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 半途而废

Words with 半

一半yībàn · half半bàn · half半天bàntiān · half a day

Words with 途

长途chángtú · long distance前途qiántú · prospects用途yòngtú · use途径tújìng · way

Words with 而

而且érqiě · moreover而ér · and然而rán'ér · however从而cóng'ér · thus反而fǎn'ér · on the contrary因而yīn'ér · therefore时而shí'ér · sometimes而已éryǐ · that’s all进而jìn'ér · and then侃侃而谈kǎnkǎn'értán · to speak with ease and confidence

Words with 废

废话fèihuà · nonsense废墟fèixū · ruins作废zuòfèi · to become invalid废除fèichú · to abolish废寝忘食fèiqǐnwàngshí · so absorbed one forgets to eat and sleep

More words: Ideas & Concepts

案例ànlì · case奥秘àomì · mystery拔苗助长bámiáozhùzhǎng · to spoil things through haste (lit. pull shoots to help growth)榜样bǎngyàng · role model饱经沧桑bǎojīngcāngsāng · to have lived through many ups and downs本能běnnéng · instinct本事běnshi · ability变故biàngù · misfortune

FAQs

半途而废 (bàntú’érfèi) means “to give up halfway” or “to give up halfway (idiom)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bàntú’érfèi: bàn with a 4th tone, then tú with a 2nd tone, then ér with a 2nd tone, then fèi with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 半途而废 is written 半途而廢. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bantuerfei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 半途而废 from the suggestions. Typing bantuerfei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
半途而废 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.