一 yī
- Strokes
- 1
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
一言不发
yìyánbùfā
to not say a word
Characters in this word
言 yán
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 言 — words, speech
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
不 bù
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
发 fā
- Strokes
- 5
- Radical
- 又 — and, also, again, in addition
Example phrases
- 他站在人群里一言不发，只是微笑着听大家聊天。 Tā zhàn zài rénqún lǐ yìyánbùfā, zhǐshì wēixiàozhe tīng dàjiā liáotiān. He stood in the crowd without saying a word, just smiling and listening to everyone chat.
- 面对质询，他始终一言不发，使会议气氛更加紧张。 Miànduì zhìxún, tā shǐzhōng yìyánbùfā, shǐ huìyì qìfēn gèngjiā jǐnzhāng. Facing questioning, he remained silent throughout, making the meeting atmosphere even more tense.
- 无论大家怎么问，她还是一言不发地收拾行李。 Wúlùn dàjiā zěnme wèn, tā háishì yìyánbùfā de shōushi xíngli. However everyone asked, she still packed her luggage without saying a word.
Related words
- 一 yī one
- 一半 yíbàn half
- 一会儿 yíhuìr a moment, a little while
- 一块儿 yíkuàir together
- 一下儿 yíxiàr a bit, briefly (after a verb)
- 一样 yíyàng the same, alike
- 一边 yìbiān one side; while (doing two things at once)
- 一点儿 yìdiǎnr a little, a bit
- 一起 yìqǐ together
- 一些 yìxiē some, a few
- 不一定 bùyídìng not necessarily
- 不一会儿 bùyíhuìr in a short while