| 远水救不了近火 |
yuǎn shuǐ jiù bu liǎo jìn huǒ |
water in a distant place is of little use in putting out a fire right here / (fig.) a slow remedy does not address the current emergency |
| 远 |
yuǎn |
far / distant / remote / (intensifier in a comparison) by far / much (lower etc) |
| 远 |
yuàn |
to distance oneself from (classical) |
| 水 |
Shuǐ |
surname Shui |
| 水 |
shuǐ |
water / (after a name) ... River / to swim (used mostly in 会水 and 水性) / (coll.) lacking in substance; shoddy / (bound form) additional cost; extra income / classifier for washings of a garment |
| 救 |
jiù |
variant of 救 |
| 救 |
jiù |
to save / to assist / to rescue |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 不了 |
bù le |
no thanks (used to politely but informally decline) |
| 不了 |
bù liǎo |
(as a resultative verb suffix) unable to (do sth) / (pattern: {verb} + 个 + ~) without end; incessantly |
| 了 |
le |
(completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) / (modal particle intensifying preceding clause) |
| 了 |
liǎo |
to finish / (used with 得 or 不 after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 "cannot forget") / (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 or 不) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least / to understand clearly (variant of 了) |
| 了 |
liǎo |
(of eyes) bright / clear-sighted / to understand clearly |
| 了 |
liào |
unofficial variant of 瞭 |
| 近 |
jìn |
near / close to / approximately |
| 火 |
Huǒ |
surname Huo |
| 火 |
huǒ |
fire / urgent / ammunition / fiery or flaming / internal heat (Chinese medicine) / hot (popular) / classifier for military units (old) / Kangxi radical 86 |