How do you pronounce 举一反三?

举一反三 is pronounced jǔ yī fǎn sān in Mandarin Chinese.

What does 举一反三 literally mean?

Literally, 举一反三 means “Cite one, infer three”. It is used to mean “to draw inferences from one instance”.

Where does 举一反三 come from?

举一反三 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.

What is the Chinese definition of 举一反三?

反：类推。比喻从一件事情类推而知道其他许多事情。

举一反三 — “To draw inferences from one instance”

举一反三 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to draw inferences from one instance”. To deduce the whole from a part; to learn by analogy. Literally, “Cite one, infer three”.

Frequency

举一反三 Pronunciation and Pinyin

举jǔ
一yī
反fǎn
三sān

举一反三 Character Breakdown

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
举	jǔ	9	lift, raise, or undertake
一	yī	1	one, a, single, whole
反	fǎn	4	reverse, opposite, anti
三	sān	3	the number three

Example Sentence with 举一反三

这位学生非常聪明，老师只讲了一道题，他就能举一反三，解答出同类型的所有题目。

This student is very intelligent; the teacher only explained one problem, and he could extrapolate from that one example to solve all problems of the same type.

Origin and Story of 举一反三

One day, Confucius, the Great Sage and Master, said to his students, 'If I present one corner of a problem, and you cannot infer the other three, I will not teach you again.'

This meant that if he gave an example or explained one aspect, his students should be able to flexibly deduce and understand the other related aspects. If they couldn't, he wouldn't continue teaching them.

Later, people coined the idiom '举一反三' (jǔ yī fǎn sān) from Confucius's words. It means to learn one thing and be able to think flexibly, applying that knowledge to other similar things or situations.

Idioms Related to 举一反三

Synonyms of 举一反三

Antonyms of 举一反三

More idioms starting with 举

Questions about 举一反三

What does 举一反三 mean?: 举一反三 (jǔ yī fǎn sān) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to draw inferences from one instance”.
How do you pronounce 举一反三?: 举一反三 is pronounced jǔ yī fǎn sān in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 举一反三 literally mean?: Literally, 举一反三 means “Cite one, infer three”. It is used to mean “to draw inferences from one instance”.
Where does 举一反三 come from?: 举一反三 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 举一反三?: 反：类推。比喻从一件事情类推而知道其他许多事情。

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