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qián 潜 yí 移 mò 默 huà 化

潜移默化 qián yí mò huà

to influence imperceptibly; to change someone gradually and unconsciously

Literally: hidden shift silent transform

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Origin

From Yan Zhitui's Yanshi Jiaxun (Mu Xian): 潜移暗化,自然似之 — one comes to resemble the people one lives among without noticing.

How to use it

Adverbial or attributive; neutral to positive. Often 潜移默化地影响 or 受到潜移默化的影响.

Example sentences

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  1. 家庭环境对孩子的性格有潜移默化的影响。
    Jiātíng huánjìng duì háizi de xìnggé yǒu qián yí mò huà de yǐngxiǎng.
    The family environment has an imperceptible influence on a child's character.
    family environment toward child (attributive particle) character have hidden shift silent transform (attributive particle) influence
  2. 长期阅读经典，会潜移默化地提高一个人的修养。
    Chángqī yuèdú jīngdiǎn, huì qián yí mò huà de tígāo yí gè rén de xiūyǎng.
    Reading the classics over a long period will gradually and imperceptibly raise a person's cultivation.
    long-term read classics, will hidden shift silent transform (adverbial particle) raise one (measure) person (attributive particle) cultivation

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