DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

依然故我

Mandarin · pinyin yī rán gù wǒ

to be one's old self (idiom)
to be unchanged
(derog.) to be stuck in one's ways

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

依: yī · rely on, be set in; consent, obey a wish
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
故: gù · ancient, old; reason, because
我: wǒ · our, us, i, me, my, we

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · yi1 ran2 gu4 wo3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

依然故我 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji1 jin4 gu3 ngo5

Cantonese word readings for 依然故我. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(of a person, chiefly derogatory) to remain unchanged; to be just the same as before

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack