知其然而不知其所以然
zhī​qí​rán'ér​bù​zhī​qí​suǒ​yǐ​rán

to know the result but not the cause

  • created sense approved 知其然而不知其所以然 · zhī​qí​rán'ér​bù​zhī​qí​suǒ​yǐ​rán · to know the result but not the cause — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    知其然而不知其所以然

    zhī​qí​rán'ér​bù​zhī​qí​suǒ​yǐ​rán

    to know the result but not the cause

    A saying meaning to know that something is the case without knowing why it is so; to understand the what but not the why.

    知 (literal) → 知 · zhī · to know 其 (literal) → 其 · qí · [third-person possessive] 然 (literal) → 然 · rán · correct 而 (literal) → 而 · ér · but 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 知 (literal) → 知 · zhī · to know 其 (literal) → 其 · qí · [third-person possessive] 所以然 (literal) → 所以然 · suǒ​yǐ​rán · the why and wherefore

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

    created sense