How to say “it can't be helped” in Chinese

无奈
wúnài

it can't be helped

verb · HSK 5 · topic “Feelings”

“It can't be helped” in Chinese is 无奈, wú nài: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.

How to pronounce it

无奈 is read wú nài: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

wú — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”
nài — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

How to write it

无
wú — not have, without

A literary counterpart of 没有. Don't confuse it with 天: in 无 the right leg curls into a hook.

奈
nài — part of “it can't be helped”

Hardly ever used on its own — it lives in 无奈.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “无奈”.

More words from the lesson “Setbacks”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “it can't be helped” in Chinese?

“It can't be helped” in Chinese is 无奈, pinyin wúnài.

What does 无奈 mean?

无奈 (wúnài) means “it can't be helped”.

How do you write 无奈?

无奈 is 2 characters: 无 (wú) — not have, without; 奈 (nài) — part of “it can't be helped”. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 无奈?

无奈 is read wúnài. Tones: wú — second tone, nài — fourth tone. The page has an audio recording.

“it can't be helped” in the lesson “Setbacks”

This word is from the topic “Feelings” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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