伸手不见五指

伸手不見五指

shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ

idiom

Meanings

1 so dark you can't see your own hand
2 pitch black

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

山洞里伸手不见五指。

Shāndòng lǐ shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ.

It was pitch black inside the cave.

HSK 7-9

停电那晚，屋里伸手不见五指。

Tíngdiàn nà wǎn, wūlǐ shēnshǒubùjiànwǔzhǐ.

That night the power was out and you couldn't see a thing in the room.

Tips

history

From 《黄绣球》 (Qing dynasty novel by Yi Suo): 黑漆漆的伸手不见五指 - 'pitch black, couldn't see five fingers stretched out'.

memory

Literal: 'stretch out hand, can't see five fingers'. Remember the image of holding your hand right in front of your face and seeing nothing.

Stroke Order

伸 shēn

手 shǒu

不 bù

见 jiàn

五 wǔ

指 zhǐ