似
是
而
非

Apparently right but actually wrong in Chinese: 似是而非 (sì shì ér fēi)

sì shì ér fēi

apparently right but actually wrong

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-91 example sentence

Definitions

  1. 1apparently right but actually wrong; specious (idiom)

Stroke order

Watch how to write 似是而非 stroke by stroke.

似
是
而
非

Zhuyin

This word’s pronunciation in Bopomofo.

Learn how to read Zhuyin

ㄙˋ

sì

ㄙ/ sˋ/ fourth tone

ㄕˋ

shì

ㄕ/ shˋ/ fourth tone

ㄦˊ

ér

ㄦ/ erˊ/ second tone

ㄈㄟ

fēi

ㄈ/ fㄟ/ ei—/ first tone

Example sentences

See 似是而非 used in real sentences with pinyin and English translations.

  • 他的话听起来有道理，其实似是而非。

    tā de huà tīng qǐ lái yǒu dào lǐ， qí shí sì shì ér fēi。

    His words sound reasonable but are actually specious.

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Related words

是

shì

to be (followed by substantives only)

而

ér

and

非

fēi

to not be

但是

dàn shì

but

非常

fēi cháng

very

而且

ér qiě

(not only ...) but also

还是

hái shi

still (as before)

总是

zǒng shì

always

可是

kě shì

but

然而

rán ér

however

于是

yú shì

thereupon

除非

chú fēi

only if (..., or otherwise, ...)

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-9 vocabulary list

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