Kilo Lingo

(wú fǎ) - unable to, cannot, have no way to in Mandarin

Traditional: 無法

Line drawing of 无法
Coloured illustration of 无法
HSK 5
#367 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

unable to, cannot, have no way to

Word origin

A two-character compound meaning unable to or to have no way to. 无 (wú) 'not have, without' joins 法 (fǎ) 'method, way', literally 'no method'. 法 has the 氵 'water' radical, traditionally linked to ideas of fairness and law.

Origin
compound
Root
无 (wú, 'without') + 法 (fǎ, 'method/way')

Stroke order

Stroke order for 无

Stroke order for 法

Examples

I cannot accept this result.

There is no way to explain this phenomenon.

He cannot control his emotions.

I cannot believe this news.

He is unable to solve this problem.

无法 (wú fǎ) - unable to, cannot, have no way to.

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This word is part of lesson 8.