Chinese–EnglishWith examples

白费

bái fèi · bai fei

Traditional 白費

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. to waste (one's energy etc)
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In a conversation

0:19 cartoon

Push or pull?

  1. Dengdeng

    我(wǒ)推(tuī)了(le)十分钟(shífēnzhōng)，这(zhè)扇(shān)门(mén)就是(jiùshì)不(bù)开(kāi)。

    I pushed for ten minutes, and this door just won't open.

  2. Liangliang

    门(mén)上(shàng)写着(xiězhe)什么(shénme)字(zì)？

    What word is written on the door?

  3. Dengdeng

    是(shì)个(gè)拉(lā)字(zì)。哎呀(āiyā)，我(wǒ)白费(báifèi)力气(lìqi)了(le)！

    It is the word "pull". Oops, I wasted my effort!

  4. Liangliang

    不(bù)白费(báifèi)，你(nǐ)今天(jīntiān)运动(yùndòng)了(le)。

    Not wasted. You exercised today.

  5. Dengdeng

    那(nà)明天(míngtiān)我(wǒ)再(zài)推(tuī)十分钟(shífēnzhōng)。

    Then tomorrow I will push for ten more minutes.

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In a sentence

2 examples
01

我(wǒ)想(xiǎng)解(jiě)决(jué)这(zhè)个(ge)问(wèn)题(tí)，可(kě)是(shì)白(bái)费(fèi)功(gōng)夫(fu)。

I tried in vain to deal with the problem.

Tatoeba: Chinese by GlossaMatik · English by CM · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; Pinyin added or corrected.

02

我(wǒ)们(men)所(suǒ)有(yǒu)的(de)努(nǔ)力(lì)都(dōu)白(bái)费(fèi)了(le)。

All our efforts were in vain.

Tatoeba: Chinese by fucongcong · English by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Pinyin added or corrected.

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How to write

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Mainland China stroke order, including traditional characters. Drawing sources & licenses.

Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pinyin display and entry grouping have been adapted.

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