事倍功半
shì bèi gōng bàn
Pinyin

Definition

事倍功半
 - 
shì bèi gōng bàn
  1. twice the effort for half the result

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

一半
yī bàn
  1. 1 half
事
shì
  1. 1 matter
  2. 2 thing
  3. 3 item
  4. 4 work
  5. 5 affair
  6. 6 CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng],回[huí]
事情
shì qing
  1. 1 affair
  2. 2 matter
  3. 3 thing
  4. 4 business
  5. 5 CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng]
事业
shì yè
  1. 1 undertaking
  2. 2 project
  3. 3 activity
  4. 4 (charitable, political or revolutionary) cause
  5. 5 publicly funded institution, enterprise or foundation
  6. 6 career
  7. 7 occupation
  8. 8 CL:個|个[gè]
功能
gōng néng
  1. 1 function
  2. 2 capability
半
bàn
  1. 1 half
  2. 2 semi-
  3. 3 incomplete
  4. 4 (after a number) and a half
半夜
bàn yè
  1. 1 midnight
  2. 2 in the middle of the night
同事
tóng shì
  1. 1 colleague
  2. 2 co-worker
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè],位[wèi]
成功
Chéng gōng
  1. 1 Chenggong or Chengkung town in Taitung County 臺東縣|台东县[Tái dōng Xiàn], southeast Taiwan
故事
gù shì
  1. 1 old practice
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
三更半夜
sān gēng bàn yè
  1. 1 in the depth of the night
  2. 2 very late at night
上半年
shàng bàn nián
  1. 1 first half (of a year)
下半年
xià bàn nián
  1. 1 second half of the year
世事
shì shì
  1. 1 affairs of life
  2. 2 things of the world
事事
shì shì
  1. 1 everything
事件
shì jiàn
  1. 1 event
  2. 2 happening
  3. 3 incident
  4. 4 CL:個|个[gè]
事先
shì xiān
  1. 1 in advance
  2. 2 before the event
  3. 3 beforehand
  4. 4 prior
事儿
shì r5
  1. 1 one's employment
  2. 2 business
  3. 3 matter that needs to be settled
  4. 4 (northern dialect) (of a person) demanding
  5. 5 trying
  6. 6 troublesome
  7. 7 erhua variant of 事[shì]
  8. 8 CL:件[jiàn],樁|桩[zhuāng]
事务
shì wù
  1. 1 (political, economic etc) affairs
  2. 2 work
  3. 3 transaction (as in a computer database)
事实
shì shí
  1. 1 fact
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]

Idioms (20)

一瓶子不响，半瓶子晃荡
yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang
  1. 1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
一知半解
yī zhī bàn jiě
  1. 1 lit. to know one and understand half (idiom); a smattering of knowledge
  2. 2 dilettante
  3. 3 amateur
一鳞半爪
yī lín bàn zhuǎ
  1. 1 lit. one scale and half a claw (idiom); only odd bits and pieces
不成功便成仁
bù chéng gōng biàn chéng rén
  1. 1 to succeed or die trying (idiom)
不明事理
bù míng shì lǐ
  1. 1 not understanding things (idiom); devoid of sense
不求有功，但求无过
bù qiú yǒu gōng , dàn qiú wú guò
  1. 1 lit. not aiming to achieve the best possible result, but rather trying to avoid making mistakes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to take a risk-averse approach
不经一事
bù jīng yī shì
  1. 1 You can't gain knowledge without practical experience (idiom); wisdom only comes with experience
不经一事，不长一智
bù jīng yī shì , bù zhǎng yī zhì
  1. 1 You can't gain knowledge without practical experience (idiom); wisdom only comes with experience
世上无难事，只怕有心人
shì shàng wú nán shì , zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén
  1. 1 there is nothing the determined person can't accomplish (idiom)
  2. 2 persistence will overcome
事不过三
shì bù guò sān
  1. 1 a thing should not be attempted more than three times (idiom)
  2. 2 don't repeat the same mistake again and again
  3. 3 bad things don't happen more than three times
事不关己
shì bù guān jǐ
  1. 1 a matter of no concern to oneself (idiom)
事不关己，高高挂起
shì bù guān jǐ , gāo gāo guà qǐ
  1. 1 to feel unconcerned and let matters rest (idiom)
事到临头
shì dào lín tóu
  1. 1 when things come to a head (idiom)
事半功倍
shì bàn gōng bèi
  1. 1 half the work, twice the effect (idiom); the right approach saves effort and leads to better results
  2. 2 a stitch in time saves nine
事危累卵
shì wēi lěi luǎn
  1. 1 lit. the matter has become a pile of eggs (idiom); fig. at a critical juncture
事在人为
shì zài rén wéi
  1. 1 the matter depends on the individual (idiom); it is a matter for your own effort
  2. 2 With effort, one can achieve anything.
事实胜于雄辩
shì shí shèng yú xióng biàn
  1. 1 Facts speak louder than words. (idiom)
事后聪明
shì hòu cōng ming
  1. 1 wise after the event (idiom); with hindsight, one should have predicted it
事后诸葛亮
shì hòu Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 a genius in retrospect (idiom); hindsight is 20-20
事怕行家
shì pà háng jiā
  1. 1 an expert always produces the best work (idiom)

Sample Sentences

要么恶性循环，要么事倍功半。
yàome èxìngxúnhuán ，yàome shìbèigōngbàn 。
It is either a negative feedback loop (a vicious cycle), or getting half of the results from twice the effort.
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倒也不是，我的厨房还是很欢迎你们的，哈哈。他就是不靠谱，好不容易厨房里可以有人搭把手，结果反而事倍功半，还不如我一个人来得有效率呢。
dào yě bùshì ，wǒ de chúfáng háishì hěn huānyíng nǐmen de ，hāhā 。tā jiù shì bù kàopǔ ，hǎobùróngyì chúfáng lǐ kěyǐ yǒurén dā bǎ shǒu ，jiéguǒ fǎnér shì bèigōng bàn ，hái bùrú wǒ yī ge rén lái de yǒu xiàolǜ ne 。
It's not like that, you are still very welcome in my kitchen, ha ha. He's just a liability. The rare occasion I get someone to lend a hand in the kitchen, and my efficiency ends up getting halved. I'm more efficient working on my own.
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