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人是鐵飯是鋼

简人是铁饭是钢 · 繁人是鐵飯是鋼

Mandarin · pinyin rén shì tiě fàn shì gāng

one can't function properly on an empty stomach (idiom)
an empty sack cannot stand upright

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Characters in this entry

人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
鐵: Look up this written character
飯: fàn · cooked rice; food; meal
鋼: Look up this written character
铁: tiě · iron; strong, solid, firm
饭: fàn · cooked rice; food, meal
钢: gāng · steel; hard, strong, tough

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–4–3–4–4–1 · ren2 shi4 tie3 fan4 shi4 gang1

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

jan4 si6 tit3 faan6 si6 gong3

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.