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量力而行

liàng lì ér xíngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to assess one's capabilities and act accordingly (idiom) / to act within one's competence / One does what one can.
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-2e1cf5d6c5232738. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

量力而行 量力而行 [liang4 li4 er2 xing2] /to assess one's capabilities and act accordingly (idiom); to act within one's competence/One does what one can./

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 量
    liáng

    to measure

    liàng

    capacity / quantity / amount / to estimate / abbr. for 量詞|量词[liàng cí], classifier (in Chinese grammar) / measure word

  • 力
    lì

    power / force / strength / ability / strenuously

    Lì

    surname Li

  • 而
    ér

    and / as well as / and so / but (not) / yet (not) / (indicates causal relation) / (indicates change of state) / (indicates contrast)

  • 行
    háng

    (bound form) row / line / (bound form) line of business / trade / profession / (bound form) commercial firm / (bound form) to rank (first, second etc) among one's siblings (by age) / (in data tables) row / (Tw) column / classifier for rows or lines

    héng

    used in 道行[dào héng]

    xíng

    (bound form) to walk / to go / to travel / (literary) trip / journey / visit / (bound form) temporary / makeshift / (bound form) current / in circulation / (bound form) to do / to perform / capable / competent / all right / OK! / will do / behavior / conduct (Taiwan pr. [xìng]) / (literary) about to / soon

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.