孤掌难鸣 in English gu1 zhang3 nan2 ming2 Meaning

Meanings

  • It's hard to clap with only one hand.
  • It takes two to tango
  • It's difficult to achieve anything without support.

Simplified Characters

孤 掌 难 鸣

Traditional Characters

孤 掌 難 鳴

Pinyin

gu1 zhang3 nan2 ming2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

孤gu1lone 掌zhang3palm of the hand 难nan2difficult (to...) 鸣ming2to cry (of birds, animals and insects)