一朝一夕

yìzhāo-yìxī
idiom #68,629

Meanings

  1. 1 in a short period of time (idiom)
  2. 2 literally one morning and one evening
  3. 3 overnight; in the blink of an eye

Examples

HSK 1
Xué hǎo Zhōngwén búshì yìzhāo-yìxī de shì.
Mastering Chinese is not something that can be done overnight.
HSK 5
Zhège wèntí búshì yìzhāo-yìxī xíngchéng de.
This problem did not develop overnight.
HSK 7-9
Gǎidiào huài xíguàn fēi yìzhāo-yìxī zhī gōng.
Breaking a bad habit is not the work of a single day.

Tips

history
From 《周易·坤卦·文言》: 臣弑其君子弑其父非一朝一夕之故其所由来者渐矣 - regicide and patricide are not the work of a single day; they build up gradually. The idiom has ever since emphasized that big things, good or bad, need time.
usage
Overwhelmingly used with a negation: 不是一朝一夕 / 非一朝一夕之功. The point is almost always that something CANNOT be done in a short time. Rare as a standalone positive phrase.

Stroke Order

cháo