巧妇难为无米之炊 qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī

cannot do a job without needed resources

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. The cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice (idiom); You won't get anywhere without equipment.

Characters

Character Meaning
巧 qiǎo HSK 4
coincidentally; as it happens; skillful
妇 fù HSK 5
woman; old variant of 婦fù
难 nán HSK 3
difficult; difficult (to...); difficulty
为 wéi HSK 2
for; because of; to
无 wú HSK 4
not; no; not to have
米 mǐ HSK 1
rice; meter (classifier); surname Mi
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
炊 chuī HSK 6
to cook food