Skip to content
shú 熟 néng 能 shēng 生 qiǎo 巧

熟能生巧 shú néng shēng qiǎo

practice makes perfect

Literally: familiar can produce skill

🃏 Practise beginner chengyu

Tap a character above to see its stroke order and the words it appears in.

Origin

Associated with the Song dynasty story of the archer Chen Yaozi and the old oil-seller in Ouyang Xiu's Guitian Lu, who poured oil through a coin hole and said it was only long practice.

How to use it

Standalone sentence or predicate; positive. Often 熟能生巧,多练习就好了.

Example sentences

Show:

Tap any word for its meaning and pinyin. The chengyu is highlighted.

  1. 别担心,熟能生巧,多写几次你就会了。
    Bié dānxīn, shú néng shēng qiǎo, duō xiě jǐ cì nǐ jiù huì le.
    Don't worry, practice makes perfect; write it a few more times and you'll get it.
    don't worry, familiar can produce skill, more write several times you then can (particle)
  2. 我刚开始做饭的时候很慢,现在熟能生巧,半个小时就能做好。
    Wǒ gāng kāishǐ zuòfàn de shíhou hěn màn, xiànzài shú néng shēng qiǎo, bàn gè xiǎoshí jiù néng zuòhǎo.
    When I first started cooking I was slow; now practice has made perfect and I can finish in half an hour.
    I just begin cook (particle) time very slow, now familiar can produce skill, half (measure) hour then can make-ready

More chengyu about study & effort

All study & effort chengyu →