Word information
Simplified功亏一篑
Traditional功虧一簣
Pinyingōng kuī yī kuì
Part of speechDictionary
HSK 3.0Not listed
HSK 2.0Not listed
Chinese word dictionary
功亏一篑
gōng kuī yī kuì · lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful; to fail through lack of a final effort; to spoil the ship for a ha'penny worth of tar (idiom)
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 功亏一篑
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Related vocabulary
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
第一dì yī
first; number one; primary
一yīone; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
一半yíbànhalf
一下yíxià(after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly
一点儿yìdiǎnrerhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3]
一些yìxiēsome; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er