人有失手，马有失蹄 / 人有失手，馬有失蹄

rén​yǒu​shī​shǒu​mǎ​yǒu​shī​tí

everyone makes mistakes

(proverb) literally, just as humans can slip up, so can a horse stumble; even the most careful person or most capable expert will occasionally make a mistake

人 (literal) → 人 · rén · person 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 失手 (literal) → 失手 · shī​shǒu · to slip ， (non_chinese) 马 (literal) → 马/馬 · mǎ · horse 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 失 (literal) → 失 · shī · to lose control 蹄 (literal) → 蹄 · tí · to kick

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM