只见树木不见森林 in English zhi3 jian4 shu4 mu4 bu4 jian4 sen1 lin2 Meaning

Meanings

  • unable to see the wood for the trees
  • metaphorically only able to see isolated details, and not the bigger picture

Simplified Characters

只 见 树 木 不 见 森 林

Traditional Characters

只 見 樹 木 不 見 森 林

Pinyin

zhi3 jian4 shu4 mu4 bu4 jian4 sen1 lin2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

只zhi3only 见jian4to see 树shu4tree 木mu4surname Mu 不bu4(negative prefix) 见jian4to see 森sen1Mori (Japanese surname) 林lin2surname Lin