歲不我與

歲不我與

Chinese

		year; years old; (a measure word)	not; no	I; me	and; to give; together with and; to give; together with; take part in; (interrog. part.)
trad. (歲不我與)		歲	不	我	與
simp. (岁不我与)		岁	不	我	与
Literally: “the years do not wait for us”.

Etymology

From the Analects:

日月逝矣，歲不我與。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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日月逝矣，岁不我与。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Rì yuè shì yǐ, suìbùwǒyǔ. [Pinyin]

The days and months are passing away; the years do not wait for us.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): suìbùwǒyǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄨㄟˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄛˇ ㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi³ bat¹ ngo⁵ jyu⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: suìbùwǒyǔ [Phonetic: suìbùwóyǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄨㄟˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄛˇ ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: suèibùwǒyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: sui⁴-pu⁴-wo³-yü³
    • Yale: swèi-bù-wǒ-yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sueybuwooyeu
    • Palladius: суйбувоюй (sujbuvojuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sweɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ wɔ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi³ bat¹ ngo⁵ jyu⁵
    • Yale: seui bāt ngóh yúh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soey³ bat⁷ ngo⁵ jy⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêu³ bed¹ ngo⁵ yu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯³³ pɐt̚⁵ ŋɔː¹³ jyː¹³/

Idiom

歲不我與

1. to have missed an opportunity; time and tide wait for no man

Synonyms

• 時不我與／时不我与 (shíbùwǒyǔ)