节哀

節哀

jiéāi

verb #8,694

Meanings

1 to restrain one's grief; to accept condolences
2 my condolences (short for 节哀顺变)

Characters

to restrain; to moderate; festival

grief; sorrow; mourning

Restrain + grief — moderate your sorrow, a way of offering condolences.

Examples

请节哀顺变。

Qǐng jiéāi shùnbiàn.

Please accept my condolences and take care of yourself.

听到这个消息，我只能说节哀。

Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, wǒ zhǐ néng shuō jiéāi.

Hearing this news, all I can say is my condolences.

节哀吧，人死不能复生。

Jiéāi ba, rén sǐ bù néng fùshēng.

My condolences — the dead cannot come back to life.

Tips

culture

节哀 is the standard way to express condolences in Chinese. The full phrase is 节哀顺变 (restrain grief and adapt to the change). In casual online contexts, people sometimes just type 节哀 as a shorthand expression of sympathy.

Stroke Order

节 jié

哀 āi