只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

Chinese

as long as; provided; so long as time; efforts deep; profound
grindstone; to sharpen; to delay
grindstone; to sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub
 
finish; complete; accomplish
finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
 
 needle; pin; injection
trad. (只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針) 只要 功夫 深 ， 鐵杵 磨 成 針
simp. (只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针) 只要 功夫 深 ， 铁杵 磨 成 针
alternative forms
只要工夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深，铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心，鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心，铁杵磨成针
只要功夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深铁杵磨成针
只要工夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心铁杵磨成针
只要工夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深，铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心，鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心，铁杵磨成针
只要功夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深铁杵磨成针
只要工夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心铁杵磨成针
鐵杵磨成針／铁杵磨成针
鐵杵磨針／铁杵磨针
鐵杵成針／铁杵成针
 
Literally: “If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.”

Etymology

From a story about poet Li Bai, recorded in Fangyu Shenglan (《方輿勝覽》).

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn
    (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ , ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): zi2 jiu3 gung1 fu1 sam1, tit3 cyu5 mo4 sing4 zam1
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn [Phonetic: zhǐyàogōngfushēn,tiéchǔmóchéngzhēn]
      • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ , ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐhyào gongfů shen, tiěchǔ mó chéng jhen
      • Wade–Giles: chih3-yao4 kung1-fu5 shên1, tʻieh3-chʻu3 mo2 chʻêng2 chên1
      • Yale: jř-yàu gūng-fu shēn-, tyě-chǔ mwó chéng jēn
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyyyaw gong.fu shen, tieechuu mo cherng jen
      • Palladius: чжияо гунфу шэнь, течу мо чэн чжэнь (čžijao gunfu šɛnʹ, teču mo čɛn čžɛnʹ)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ jɑʊ̯⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fu² ʂən⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu̯ɔ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
  • Cantonese

Proverb

只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

  1. Diligence is the mother of success. / Practice makes perfect.

Descendants

  • → Vietnamese: có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim (calque)
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