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燕雀焉知鴻鵠之志

简燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志 · 繁燕雀焉知鴻鵠之志

Mandarin · pinyin yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì

lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

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Characters in this entry

燕: yàn · swallow (bird); comfort, enjoy
雀: què · sparrow
焉: yān · thereupon, then; how? why? where?
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
鴻: Look up this written character
鵠: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
鸿: hóng · species of wild swan; vast
鹄: gǔ · target

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1–2–3–1–4 · yan4 que4 yan1 zhi1 hong2 gu3 zhi1 zhi4

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