Chinese · Idiom Attested

有始无终

yǒu shǐ wú zhōng

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Traditional: 有始無終

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To begin something and then drop it before it is done. Used to criticise people who do not persevere in their work, studies or relationships.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Có mở đầu mà không có kết thúc: bắt tay vào việc rồi bỏ dở giữa chừng. Dùng để chê người thiếu kiên trì, làm không đến nơi đến chốn.

Literally: has a beginning, has no end

Examples

弟弟做事总是有始无终，妈妈很着急。Dìdi zuòshì zǒngshì yǒu shǐ wú zhōng, māma hěn zháojí.My little brother never finishes what he starts, and Mum is getting worried.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation) — awaiting a native-speaker check

Sources & notes

Hán-Việt bridge batch 062 (2026-11-13). Headword, Traditional form and pinyin checked against CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0) source ↗ · Hán-Việt reading: Unihan kVietnamese source ↗ ; en.wiktionary Vietnamese entries via kaikki.org extract, snapshot 2026-07-31 (CC BY-SA 4.0): etymology of “hữu thuỷ vô chung” = 有始無終 · Vietnamese cognate: Idiomer entry “hữu thuỷ vô chung” (huu-thuy-vo-chung). Definition, literal gloss and example sentence are original; the example has not had a native-speaker check yet.

Equivalents & related

Hán-Việt cognate hữu thuỷ vô chung to have a beginning but not an end Tiếng Việt

Common questions

What does “有始无终” mean?

To begin something and then drop it before it is done. Used to criticise people who do not persevere in their work, studies or relationships. Literally: has a beginning, has no end

Is “有始无终” formal or informal?

有始无终 is generally neutral.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time