半途而废bàn tú ér fèito give up halfway

1. 1.

   to give up halfwayidiom

2. 2.

   leave sth unfinishedidiom

Figurative meaning

To give up halfway; to leave something unfinished.

• 半half
• 途way; route; road
• 而not compositional here
• 废to abandon

No attested origin story

半途而废 can describe giving up on study, work, or a plan, and it can follow 不要 as advice to keep going.

1. HSK 1

   学中文不要半途而废。

   Xué Zhōngwén búyào bàn tú ér fèi.

   Don't give up halfway when learning Chinese.

2. HSK 4

   他跑步跑了两天就放弃了，这就是半途而废。

   Tā pǎobù pǎo le liǎng tiān jiù fàngqì le, zhè jiù shì bàn tú ér fèi.

   He ran for two days and then gave up; that is giving up halfway.

1. 
   Speaker A:

   我不想学中文了。

   Wǒ bù xiǎng xué Zhōngwén le.

   I don't want to study Chinese anymore.

2. 
   Speaker B:

   你已经学了一年了。

   Nǐ yǐjīng xué le yì nián le.

   You've already studied for a year.

3. 
   Speaker A:

   可是太难了。

   Kěshì tài nán le.

   But it's too hard.

4. 
   Speaker B:

   别半途而废，再学一年吧。

   Bié bàn tú ér fèi, zài xué yì nián ba.

   Don't give up halfway. Study one more year.

1. 1.What does 半途而废 mean?

   ATo give up halfwayBTo walk half the roadCTo finish quickly
2. 2.Which sentence uses 半途而废 correctly?

   A学中文不要半途而废。B今天天气很半途而废。C我半途而废地喝水。
3. 3.Which word fits best? 他跑了两天就不跑了，真是____。 (He ran for two days and then stopped; he really gave up halfway.)

   A自相矛盾B半途而废C亡羊补牢

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Related idioms

• 不约而同bù yuē ér tóng(idiom) (of two or more people) to take the same action without prior consultation; (usu. used adverbially) all (or both) of them, independently; as if by prior agreementHSK 7–9
• 不言而喻bù yán ér yù(idiom) it goes without saying; it is self-evidentHSK 7–9
• 可想而知kě xiǎng ér zhī(idiom) (it) goes without saying; can well be imaginedHSK 7–9
• 显而易见xiǎn ér yì jiànclearly and easy to see (idiom); obviouslyHSK 7–9
• 脱颖而出tuō yǐng ér chūto reveal one's talent (idiom)HSK 7–9
• 轻而易举qīng ér yì jǔwith no difficultyHSK 7–9

Browse every entry in the Chinese idioms dictionary.