添砖加瓦

添磚加瓦
tiānzhuānjiāwǎ
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to contribute bricks and tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 to do one's bit to help
  3. 3 to make a small but real contribution to a collective effort

Examples

Wǒ yuànyì wèi gōngsī de fāzhǎn tiānzhuānjiāwǎ.
I'm willing to do my part for the company's development.
Měi gè rén dōu zài wèi guójiā de jiànshè tiānzhuānjiāwǎ.
Everyone is doing their bit for the country's development.
Wǒmen xiǎo xiǎo de nǔlì, yěshì zài tiānzhuānjiāwǎ.
Our small efforts are also contributing our share.

Tips

usage
Always paired with + [cause] to state what you're helping build: 祖国建设公司发展项目 添砖加瓦. Modest and humble in tone — the speaker acknowledges their contribution is small, just bricks and tiles on a big structure.
memory
Visualize a construction site. You can't build the whole house, but you can carry bricks () and lay tiles (). Every small contribution builds the wall bit by bit.

Stroke Order

tiān
zhuān
jiā