绳锯木断

繩鋸木斷

shéngjù-mùduàn

idiom

Meanings

1 a rope can saw through wood
2 persistence wins in the end; small efforts add up

Characters

to break; to be cut through

Examples

HSK 5

学语言就像绳锯木断，每天进步一点点，总有一天能说得很流利。

Xué yǔyán jiù xiàng shéngjù-mùduàn, měitiān jìnbù yìdiǎndiǎn, zǒng yǒu yì tiān néng shuō de hěn liúlì.

Learning a language is like a rope sawing through wood: get a little better every day and one day you'll speak fluently.

HSK 7-9

只要有绳锯木断的毅力，再难的事也能做成。

Zhǐyào yǒu shéngjù-mùduàn de yìlì, zài nán de shì yě néng zuòchéng.

With the patience of a rope sawing through wood, even the hardest task can be done.

Tips

history

From the Song collection 《鹤林玉露》: a magistrate punished a clerk caught taking a single coin from the treasury, ruling that a coin a day makes a thousand coins in a thousand days, just as 绳锯木断，水滴石穿. The two halves still usually appear together.

Stroke Order

绳 shéng

锯 jù

木 mù

断 duàn