身
不
由
己

Without the freedom to act independently (idiom) in Chinese: 身不由己 (shēn bù yóu jǐ)

shēn bù yóu jǐ

without the freedom to act independently (idiom)

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-91 example sentence

Definitions

  1. 1without the freedom to act independently (idiom); involuntary
  2. 2not of one's own volition
  3. 3in spite of oneself

Stroke order

Watch how to write 身不由己 stroke by stroke.

身
不
由
己

Zhuyin

This word’s pronunciation in Bopomofo.

Learn how to read Zhuyin

ㄕㄣ

shēn

ㄕ/ shㄣ/ en—/ first tone

ㄅㄨˋ

bù

ㄅ/ bㄨ/ uˋ/ fourth tone

ㄧㄡˊ

yóu

ㄧ/ iㄡ/ ouˊ/ second tone

ㄐㄧˇ

jǐ

ㄐ/ jㄧ/ iˇ/ third tone

Example sentences

See 身不由己 used in real sentences with pinyin and English translations.

  • 很多时候我们身不由己，只能听从安排。

    hěn duō shí hòu wǒ men shēn bù yóu jǐ， zhǐ néng tīng cóng ān pái。

    Often we aren't our own masters and can only follow the arrangements.

Spotted a mistake?

Related words

不

bù

no

由

yóu

to follow

身体

shēn tǐ

the body

自己

zì jǐ

oneself

不但

bù dàn

not only (... but also ...)

不管

bù guǎn

not to be concerned

不过

bù guò

only

不仅

bù jǐn

not just

由于

yóu yú

due to

不安

bù ān

unpeaceful

不必

bù bì

need not

不断

bù duàn

unceasing

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Levels 7-9 vocabulary list

Learn 身不由己 with spaced repetition

Add 身不由己 (shēn bù yóu jǐ) to your review queue and the FSRS algorithm will schedule it exactly when you're about to forget — then meet it again in a short AI-generated story written at your level.

Start learning free

No credit card required · Free tier included