三驾马车

三駕馬車
sānjià-mǎchē
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 troika
  2. 2 trio of driving forces
  3. 3 three pillars (working in tandem)

Examples

HSK 4
Qiúduì de sānjià-mǎchē dōu shòushāng le.
All three of the team's star players are injured.
HSK 7-9
Tóuzī, xiāofèi, chūkǒu bèi chēngwéi lādòng jīngjì de sānjià-mǎchē.
Investment, consumption, and exports are called the troika that drives the economy.

Tips

history
Calque of the Russian тройка (troika) - a sleigh pulled by three horses harnessed abreast. Entered Chinese via translations of Russian literature and politics, and is now standard in economic commentary, especially the 'three drivers of GDP': 投资 (investment), 消费 (consumption), 出口 (exports).
usage
Common in business and sports writing for any prominent trio working together - a company's 三驾马车 might be its founder, CTO, and head of sales.

Stroke Order

三 sān
驾 jià
马 mǎ
车 chē