南 nán
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 十 — ten, tenth
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
南辕北辙
nányuánběizhé
to act in a way that contradicts one's goal; to go in the opposite direction
Characters in this word
辕 yuán
- Strokes
- 14
- Radical
- 车 — cart, vehicle
- Made of
- 车 cart, vehicle 袁 robe
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
北 běi
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 匕 — spoon, ladle
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
辙 zhé
- Strokes
- 16
- Radical
- 车 — cart, vehicle
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 你想早点到家，却坐了反方向的车，这是南辕北辙。 Nǐ xiǎng zǎodiǎn dào jiā, què zuò le fǎn fāngxiàng de chē, zhè shì nányuánběizhé. You want to get home early but took a bus going the other way; that is going in the opposite direction of your goal.
- 想减肥却天天吃夜宵，这简直是南辕北辙。 Xiǎng jiǎnféi què tiāntiān chī yèxiāo, zhè jiǎnzhí shì nányuánběizhé. Wanting to lose weight but eating a late-night snack every day is simply working against your own goal.
- 想让孩子爱上读书，却不准他看喜欢的书，这是南辕北辙。 Xiǎng ràng háizi àishang dúshū, què bù zhǔn tā kàn xǐhuan de shū, zhè shì nányuánběizhé. Wanting a child to love reading while forbidding the books he likes is working against the goal.