燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志 in English yan4 que4 yan1 zhi1 hong2 gu3 zhi1 zhi4 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiomatic expression); metaphorically how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?

Simplified Characters

鸿

Traditional Characters

Pinyin

yan4 que4 yan1 zhi1 hong2 gu3 zhi1 zhi4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

yan4Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in modern Hebei and Liaoning que4a freckle yan1where zhi1to know 鸿hong2eastern bean goose gu3center or bull's eye of an archery target (old) zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) zhi4aspiration