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沒辦法

简没办法 · 繁沒辦法

Mandarin · pinyin méi bàn fǎ

there is nothing to be done
one can't do anything about it

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Characters in this entry

沒: méi · not, have not, none; to drown, sink
辦: Look up this written character
法: fǎ · law, rule, regulation, statute; France, French
没: méi · not, have not, none; drown, sink
办: bàn · manage, do, handle; deal with

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–3 · mei2 ban4 fa3

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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.

沒辦法 · find source passages ↗ · 没办法 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

there is nothing to be done; one can't do anything about it

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

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