4 characters Idiom and proverb 21 710

Our mission is to provide free tools for learning Chinese. This series explores idioms and proverbs, meaningful phrases worth knowing. Today’s idiom: 「順水行舟」.

In this introduction, we explore the idiom 「順水行舟」. Its definition and ways to use it are shown below.

Sail in the direction of the water flow. A metaphor for speaking and acting according to the situation.

The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :

shùn shuǐ háng zhōu

while its Cantonese pinyin is :

seun6 seui2 haang4/hong4/hang4 jau1

Chinese idioms come in large numbers, with diverse meanings and usages, offering endless learning opportunities. We hope these resources make it easier for you to study Chinese.