Chinese word

出事

Pronunciation

Pinyinchū shì

Meaning

  • verbsomething goes wrong

Example

出事不是小事，得认真处理。chū shì bú shì xiǎo shì děi rèn zhēn chú lǐ

When something goes wrong, it is no small matter and must be dealt with seriously.

Illustration for 出事 (something goes wrong)

More examples

节日期间人多，容易出事。jié rì qī jiān rén duō róng yì chū shì

During holidays, there are many people, so something can easily go wrong.

Core concept

A problem or accident emerges suddenly as a real situation rather than a mere possibility.

Common phrases

  • 差点儿出事chà diǎnr chū shì

    almost have an accident

  • 出事了chū shì le

    Something went wrong

  • 没出事méi chū shì

    nothing went wrong

Similar words

发生fā shēng: Describes an event or change coming about, without saying whether it is good or bad.
出问题chū wèn tí: Describes a problem arising when a task, system, or process fails to proceed normally.
发生意外fā shēng yì wài: Describes an unexpected accident or other unforeseen event occurring.

Definition in Chinese

发生不好的事情或意外事件。fā shēng bù hǎo de shì qíng huò yì wài shì jiàn

Word origin

The compound 出 (chū, "come out") + 事 (shì, "matter") pictures an event emerging, which makes the word a natural way to mark the appearance of unwanted trouble.

Usage tips

  • This verb normally signals an unwanted event, unlike the neutral English phrase "something happened," which can describe any event.

Other meanings

  • have an accidentverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 出事儿chū shìrhave something go wrongverb
  • 出乱子chū luàn zirun into troubleverb

Word lists with this word