| 决而不行 | jué ér bù xíng | making decisions without implementing them |
| 沐猴而冠 | mù hóu ér guān | lit. a monkey wearing a crown; worthless person in imposing attire (idiom) |
| 油然而生 | yóu rán ér shēng | arising involuntarily (idiom); spontaneous; to spring up unbidden (of emotion) |
法网灰灰，
疏而不漏 | fǎ wǎng huī huī ,
shū ér bù lòu | The net of justice is wide, but no-one escapes. |
| 温故而知新 | wēn gù ér zhī xīn | to review the old and know the new (idiom, from the Analects); to recall the past to understand the future |
| 满载而归 | mǎn zài ér guī | to return from a rewarding journey |
无一事而不学，
无一时而不学，
无一处而不得 | wú yī shì ér bù xué ,
wú yī shí ér bù xué ,
wú yī chǔ ér bù dé | Study everything, at all times, everywhere (Zhu Xi 朱熹) |
| 无功而返 | wú gōng ér fǎn | to return without any achievement (idiom); to go home with one's tail between one's legs |
| 牵一发而动全身 | qiān yī fà ér dòng quán shēn | lit. pull one hair and the whole body moves; fig. a slight change will affect everything else; the butterfly effect |
| 王顾左右而言他 | wáng gù zuǒ yòu ér yán tā | the king looked left and right and then talked of other things; to digress from the topic of discussion (idiom) |
| 疏而不漏 | shū ér bù lòu | loose, but allows no escape (idiom, from Laozi 老子); the way of Heaven is fair, but the guilty will not escape |
| 疾驰而过 | jí chí ér guò | swept past |
| 百足之虫死而不僵 | bǎi zú zhī chóng sǐ ér bù jiāng | a centipede dies but never falls down; old institutions die hard |
| 尽力而为 | jìn lì ér wéi | to try one's utmost; to strive |
| 尽欢而散 | jìn huān ér sàn | to disperse after a happy time (idiom); everyone enjoys themselves to the full then party breaks up |
| 直道而行 | zhí dào ér xíng | lit. to go straight (idiom, from Analects); to act with integrity |
| 知难而退 | zhī nán ér tuì | to sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat (idiom); fig. to back out of an awkward situation; to get out on finding out what it's really like |
| 破门而入 | pò mén ér rù | to break the door and enter; to force a door open (idiom) |
| 秘而不宣 | mì ér bù xuān | to withhold information; to keep sth secret |
| 空手而归 | kōng shǒu ér guī | to return empty-handed; to fail to win anything |
| 简而言之 | jiǎn ér yán zhī | in a nutshell; to put it briefly |
| 终而复始 | zhōng ér fù shǐ | lit. the end comes back to the start (idiom); the wheel comes full circle |
| 结伴而行 | jié bàn ér xíng | to stay together (of a group); to keep together |
| 置之死地而后生 | zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng | place sb on field of death and he will fight to live (common saying based on Sunzi's Art of War 孙子兵法); to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger; fig. to find a way out of an impasse |
| 群起而攻之 | qún qǐ ér gōng zhī | the masses rise to attack it (idiom); Everyone is against the idea.; universally abhorrent |
| 翩然而至 | piān rán ér zhì | come trippingly |
| 翘足而待 | qiào zú ér dài | waiting expectantly on tiptoes (idiom); to look forward eagerly; to long for |
| 而不需 | ér bù xū | without needing (to so sth) |
| 而立之年 | ér lì zhī nián | aged thirty (see 三十而立) |
| 而言 | ér yán | with regard to (preceding phrase) |
| 闻风而动 | wén fēng ér dòng | to respond instantly; to act at once on hearing the news |
| 听其言而观其行 | tīng qí yán ér guān qí xíng | hear what he says and observe what he does (idiom, from Analects); judge a person not by his words, but by his actions |
| 听而不闻 | tīng ér bù wén | to hear but not react (idiom); to turn a deaf ear; to ignore deliberately |
| 脱口而出 | tuō kǒu ér chū | to blurt out; to let slip (an indiscreet remark) |
| 脱颖而出 | tuō yǐng ér chū | lit. a sharp point sticks out; innate talent will reveal itself (idiom) |
临渊羡鱼不如退而
结网 | lín yuān xiàn yú bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng | rather than admiring fish, go home and weave a net |
临渊羡鱼，
不如退而结网 | lín yuān xiàn yú ,
bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng | better to go home and weave a net, than to stand by the pond and covet fish (idiom) |
| 自上而下的加工 | zì shàng ér xià de jiā gōng | top-down processing |
| 自下而上的加工 | zì xià ér shàng de jiā gōng | bottom-up processing |
| 良禽择木而栖 | liáng qín zé mù ér qī | a fine bird chooses a tree to nest in (proverb); fig. a talented person chooses a patron of integrity |
| 冲口而出 | chōng kǒu ér chū | to blurt out without thinking (idiom) |
| 见难而上 | jiàn nán ér shàng | to take the bull by the horns (idiom) |
| 言而有信 | yán ér yǒu xìn | to speak and keep one's promise (idiom); as good as one's word |
| 言而无信 | yán ér wú xìn | to go back on one's word; to break one's promise; to be unfaithful; to be untrustworthy |
说是一回事，
而做又是另外一回事 | shuō shì yī huí shì ,
ér zuò yòu shì lìng wài yī huí shì | see 说是一回事，做又是另外一回事 |
| 说说而已 | shuō shuō ér yǐ | nothing serious; just hot air |
| 谑而不虐 | xuè ér bù nüè | to tease; to mock sb without offending; to banter |
| 迎面而来 | yíng miàn ér lái | directly; head-on (collision); in one's face (of wind) |
过而能改，
善莫大焉 | guò ér néng gǎi ,
shàn mò dà yān | If one can change after making a mistake, there is nothing better (idiom) |
| 适可而止 | shì kě ér zhǐ | to stop before going too far (idiom); to stop while one can; don't overdo it; stop while you're ahead |
