HSK 6 · Adjectives

一目了然 yímùliǎorán “clear at a glance” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 一目了然 means

  1. clear at a glance
  2. obvious
  3. obvious at a glance (idiom)

How to say 一目了然

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale一yí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale目mù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale了liǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale然rán2nd tone, rising

Tone change. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. How tone changes work

一目了然 in a sentence

  1. 这张图表让人一目了然。

    Zhè zhāng túbiǎo ràng rén yímùliǎorán.

    This chart makes everything clear at a glance.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 答案写得一目了然。

    Dá'àn xiě de yímùliǎorán.

    The answer is written out clearly.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 一目了然 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 一 (yī) drawn as one shape
一yīoneyí in 一目了然

一 is a single shape of 1 stroke. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidOne stroke for one, the way people once counted with rods.

The character 目 (mù) with each of its parts in a different colour
目mùeye
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 二two · èr

Memory aidDrawn from an eye, turned upright: eye.

The character 了 (liǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
了liǎoto finish
  • 乛part of the character
  • 亅hook · jué
The character 然 (rán) with each of its parts in a different colour
然ráncorrect
  • 肰dog meat · ránSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 肰 (rán) hints at the sound. Compare it with rán.

Memory aidFire 灬 under meat 肰. Its first meaning was “to burn”, now written 燃 (rán).

How to write 一目了然

一 1 strokes · 目 5 strokes · 了 2 strokes · 然 12 strokes

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

一目了然 (yímùliǎorán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 一目了然 (yímùliǎorán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 一目了然

Words with 一

一yī · one一半yībàn · half一些yīxiē · some一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little一起yìqǐ · together第一dìyī · first一下yíxià · (after a verb) briefly一般yìbān · general一定yídìng · surely一共yígòng · altogether

Words with 目

节目jiémù · programme目的mùdì · purpose目前mùqián · at the present time目录mùlù · catalogue题目tímù · subject项目xiàngmù · item目标mùbiāo · target目光mùguāng · gaze目睹mùdǔ · to witness盲目mángmù · blind

Words with 了

了le · aspect particle了解liǎojiě · comprehend除了chúle · besides为了wèile · in order to受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable不得了bùdéliǎo · extremely了不起liǎobuqǐ · amazing大不了dàbuliǎo · at worst

Words with 然

虽然suīrán · although当然dāngrán · of course突然tūrán · sudden然后ránhòu · then自然zìrán · nature既然jìrán · since竟然jìngrán · unexpectedly然而rán'ér · however仍然réngrán · still必然bìrán · inevitable

More words: Adjectives

野蛮yěmán · barbaric异常yìcháng · abnormal一贯yíguàn · consistent一流yìliú · first-class隐蔽yǐnbì · hidden英明yīngmíng · wise英勇yīngyǒng · heroic隐约yǐnyuē · faint

FAQs

一目了然 (yímùliǎorán) means “clear at a glance” or “obvious”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yímùliǎorán: yí with a 2nd tone, then mù with a 4th tone, then liǎo with a 3rd tone, then rán with a 2nd tone. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 一目了然 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yimuliaoran with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 一目了然 from the suggestions. Typing yimuliaoran into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
一目了然 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.