水浅养不住大鱼 in English shui3 qian3 yang3 bu4 zhu4 da4 yu2 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) shallow waters cannot harbor big fish (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically ambitious, talented people cannot reach their full potential in a small organization

Simplified Characters

水 浅 养 不 住 大 鱼

Traditional Characters

水 淺 養 不 住 大 魚

Pinyin

shui3 qian3 yang3 bu4 zhu4 da4 yu2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

水shui3surname Shui 浅qian3sound of moving water 养yang3to raise (animals) 不bu4(negative prefix) 住zhu4to live 大da4big 鱼yu2surname Yu