Writing
不得已 (bù dé yǐ) — how to say "to have no choice but to" in Chinese
不得已
To have no choice but to; forced
adjective
Character composition
不
not
得
to obtain; may
已
already; to stop
Radicals / Keys
彳
Step
#60 · chì · 3 strokes
一
One
#1 · yī · 1 stroke
己
Oneself
#49 · jǐ · 3 strokes
Synonyms
Collocations
不得已而为之
bù dé yǐ ér wéi zhī
do as a last resort
实在不得已
shí zài bù dé yǐ
really have no choice
Examples
他实在没办法，不得已才同意了这个条件。
He really had no other way out and was forced to agree to these conditions.
我不得已才去。
I had no choice but to go.
Frequently asked questions
Have no choice but to meaning
"to have no choice but to" in Chinese is 不得已 (bù dé yǐ).
What does 不得已 mean in English?
不得已 (bù dé yǐ) means "To have no choice but to; forced".
How is 不得已 pronounced?
It is pronounced bù dé yǐ (written as bu de yi, budeyi). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
How do you write "to have no choice but to" in Chinese characters?
It is written 不得已: 不 has 4 strokes, 得 has 11 strokes, 已 has 3 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 不得已?
不得已 belongs to the HSK 6 vocabulary list.
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More HSK 6 words
不惜
bù xī
Not to spare, not to hesitate
不愧
bú kuì
Deservedly, worthy of
不择
手段
手段
bù zé shǒu duàn
Unscrupulous, by any means necessary
不敢当
bù gǎn dāng
I don't deserve such praise
不由得
bù yóu de
Can't help but; involuntarily
不禁
bù jīn
Can't help but, involuntarily
不言
而喻
而喻
bù yán ér yù
Self-evident, goes without saying
与日
俱增
俱增
yǔ rì jù zēng
To increase day by day