奈 nài but
but; how
怎么记住“奈”: 大 big + 示 show = but. The big brother points to the board to show that swimming is banned, and his little sister groans "but how else can we cool off?"
部件结构
奈 = 大 big + 示 show
- 大 big
- 示 show
The big brother points to the board to show that swimming is banned, and his little sister groans "but how else can we cool off?"
How it came to be
It is another shape of an older character for a fruit.
用法
- Bound character that almost only appears in 无奈 (wúnài), "to have no choice, to feel helpless", a very common word for resigned frustration.
- Also in the idiom 无可奈何 (wúkěnàihé): there is nothing to be done about it.
- Never used as a standalone word or in other everyday compounds.
- Conveys a passive, powerless feeling rather than active anger.