Chinese word

而已

Pronunciation

Pinyinér yǐ

Meaning

  • particlethat's all

Example

我只是想帮忙而已。wǒ zhǐ shì xiǎng bāng máng ér yǐ

I just wanted to help, that's all.

Illustration for 而已 (that's all)

More examples

他的话只是开玩笑而已。tā de huà zhǐ shì kāi wán xiào ér yǐ

What he said was just a joke, that's all.

Core concept

A verbal fence that keeps a statement within one small limit and closes the topic there.

Common phrases

  • 只是而已zhǐ shì ér yǐ

    just that

  • 不过而已bú guò ér yǐ

    nothing more than that

  • 仅仅而已jín jǐn ér yǐ

    merely that

Similar words

罢了bà le: Concludes that the stated point is simply all there is to say.

Definition in Chinese

置于句末，表示范围或程度的限定，意思是“仅仅是…而已”，用来收束话题或淡化陈述。zhì yú jù mò biǎo shì fàn wéi huò chéng dù de xiàn dìng yì si shì jín jǐn shì ér yǐ yòng lái shōu shù huà tí huò dàn huà chén shù

Word origin

The classical combination 而 (ér, "and") and 已 (yǐ, "already finished") had the sense of "and that is finished," a natural source for its modern sentence-ending use.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this ending can reduce the weight of a claim, but a very firm delivery can make it sound dismissive rather than modest.

Other meanings

  • onlyadverb

Word lists with this word