恨鐵不成鋼

Chinese

		to hate; regret	iron	not; no	finish; complete; accomplish finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth	steel
trad. (恨鐵不成鋼)		恨	鐵	不	成	鋼
simp. (恨铁不成钢)		恨	铁	不	成	钢
Literally: “to hate iron for not becoming steel”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hèn tiě bù chéng gāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄣˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄍㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): han⁶ tit³ bat¹ sing⁴ gong³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hèn tiě bù chéng gāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄣˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄥˊ ㄍㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hèn tiě bù chéng gang
    • Wade–Giles: hên⁴ tʻieh³ pu⁴ chʻêng² kang¹
    • Yale: hèn tyě bù chéng gāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: henn tiee bu cherng gang
    • Palladius: хэнь те бу чэн ган (xɛnʹ te bu čɛn gan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xən⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ kɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: han⁶ tit³ bat¹ sing⁴ gong³
    • Yale: hahn tit bāt sìhng gong
    • Cantonese Pinyin: han⁶ tit⁸ bat⁷ sing⁴ gong³
    • Guangdong Romanization: hen⁶ tid³ bed¹ xing⁴ gong³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐn²² tʰiːt̚³ pɐt̚⁵ sɪŋ²¹ kɔːŋ³³/

Idiom

恨鐵不成鋼

1. (figurative) to feel resentful towards someone for failing to meet expectations; to be impatient to see improvement