听其言观其行 tīng qí yán guān qí xíng

judge people by deeds, not just words

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. hear what he says and observe what he does (idiom, from Analects); judge a person not by his words, but by his actions

Characters

Character Meaning
听 tīng HSK 1
to listen; to hear; to obey
其 qí HSK 3
its; their; it (refers to sth preceding it)
言 yán HSK 4
to say; to talk; speech
观 guān HSK 4
point of view; concept; to watch
其 qí HSK 3
its; their; it (refers to sth preceding it)
行 xíng HSK 3
all right; OK!; will do