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jǔ 举 yī 一 fǎn 反 sān 三

举一反三 jǔ yī fǎn sān

to infer the rest from one example; to learn by analogy

Literally: raise one return three

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Origin

From the Analects: Confucius said he would not repeat a lesson for a student who, shown one corner, could not come back with the other three.

How to use it

Predicate; positive. Often 学会举一反三 / 举一反三的能力.

Example sentences

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  1. 学语法要举一反三，学了一个句子就会说很多句子。
    Xué yǔfǎ yào jǔ yī fǎn sān, xué le yī gè jùzi jiù huì shuō hěn duō jùzi.
    When learning grammar, extend from one example: learn one sentence and you can say many.
    learn grammar must raise one return three, learn (particle) one (measure) sentence then can say very many sentence
  2. 这个学生很聪明，老师教一点儿他就能举一反三。
    Zhège xuésheng hěn cōngming, lǎoshī jiāo yīdiǎnr tā jiù néng jǔ yī fǎn sān.
    This student is very bright; the teacher shows him a little and he works out the rest himself.
    this student very clever, teacher teach a-little he then can raise one return three

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