si6 zoi6 jan4 wai4事在人為事在人为
Jyutpingsi6 zoi6 jan4 wai4
Yalesih joih yàhn wàih
Definition
Human effort can achieve anything; success depends on one's own efforts rather than fate or waiting for luck.
colloquialother
How it's used
This idiom serves as a motivational reminder that outcomes depend on personal initiative rather than passive waiting. It is frequently used to encourage someone who feels discouraged by a difficult situation or who is relying too heavily on luck. Unlike formal written Chinese where it might sound stiff, in Cantonese it is often tagged with particles like 嘛 or 㗎 to soften the tone and make it sound like friendly advice.
Examples
As long as you are willing to try, it will work out; it is all about human effort.
Don't just wait for luck to strike, you have to take matters into your own hands.
Related words
Common phrases
It is all about human effort, don't give up.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
