# 半途而废

bàn tú ér fèi

Give up halfway through

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Abandon the task midway

**Traditional Chinese:** 半途而廢

**Register:** Critical · conversational

[Effort & growth](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/effort)

## When to use it

Use for stopping before completing something worth doing.

It is usually disapproving; stopping a harmful project can be sensible.

## Behind the words

The Book of Rites compares pursuing learning with a journey that can be abandoned halfway. The image emphasizes finishing what one begins.

The expression focuses on stopping after a task has begun and before its intended completion. It often implies wasted effort or insufficient perseverance. However, it is a judgment about a situation, not a rule that every project must continue forever. Changing course after discovering serious risks can be sensible; use the idiom when the interruption is presented as an avoidable failure to follow through.

## Examples

学语言需要耐心，不要半途而废。

### Traditional Chinese

學語言需要耐心，不要半途而廢。

xué yǔ yán xū yào nài xīn ， bú yào bàn tú ér fèi 。

Learning a language takes patience; don’t give up halfway through.

这本书我读到一半就放下了，后来决定不再半途而废。

### Traditional Chinese

這本書我讀到一半就放下了，後來決定不再半途而廢。

zhè běn shū wǒ dú dào yí bàn jiù fàng xià le ， hòu lái jué dìng bú zài bàn tú ér fèi 。

I put the book down halfway through, then decided to finish what I had started.

他们筹备了半年，不愿因为一次争执而半途而废。

### Traditional Chinese

他們籌備了半年，不願因為一次爭執而半途而廢。

tā men chóu bèi le bàn nián ， bú yuàn yīn wèi yí cì zhēng zhí ér bàn tú ér fèi 。

After six months of preparation, they did not want one argument to make them abandon the project.

学游泳时遇到困难很正常，别轻易半途而废。

### Traditional Chinese

學游泳時遇到困難很正常，別輕易半途而廢。

xué yóu yǒng shí yù dào kùn nán hěn zhèng cháng ， bié qīng yì bàn tú ér fèi 。

Difficulties are normal when learning to swim; do not give up halfway so easily.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 4, 2026.

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=152&q=1&webMd=1&la=0)

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E5%8D%8A%E9%80%94%E8%80%8C%E5%BB%A2)

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