無奈何

Chinese

	not have	how; what; what is to be done how; what; what is to be done; what can be done
trad. (無奈何)	無	奈何
simp. (无奈何)	无	奈何
alternative forms	無乾活／无干活無乾哇／无干哇無礁哇／无礁哇無焦哇／无焦哇無乾何／无干何無乾活／无干活無乾哇／无干哇無礁哇／无礁哇無焦哇／无焦哇無乾何／无干何無礁何／无礁何無焦何／无焦何

Pronunciation

Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): mò-nai-hò

(Hailu, HRS): mo nai^˖ ho
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bô-tâ-ôa / bô-tā-ôa / bô-tâi-oa̍h / bô-ta-ôa / bô-tāi-ôa / bû-nāi-hô / bô-nāi-hô / bô-ta-bôa

Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mò-nai-hò
  - Hakka Romanization System: mo^ˇ nai ho^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: mo² nai⁴ ho²
  - Sinological IPA: /mo¹¹ nai̯⁵⁵ ho¹¹/
- (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
  - Hakka Romanization System: mo nai^˖ ho
  - Sinological IPA: /mo⁵⁵ nai³³ ho⁵⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-tâ-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: bô-tâ-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'da'oaa
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bo²⁴⁻²² ta²⁴⁻²² ua²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-tā-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: bô-tā-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'daxoaa
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /bo²⁴⁻²² ta⁴¹⁻²² ua²⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ ta³³⁻¹¹ ua²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ ta³³⁻²¹ ua²³/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-tâi-oa̍h
  - Tâi-lô: bô-tâi-ua̍h
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'dai'oah
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /bo¹³⁻²² tai¹³⁻²² uaʔ¹²¹/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-ta-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: bô-ta-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'da'oaa
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ ta⁴⁴⁻³³ ua²⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ ta⁴⁴⁻³³ ua²³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-tāi-ôa
  - Tâi-lô: bô-tāi-uâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'daixoaa
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ tai³³⁻²¹ ua²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ tai³³⁻¹¹ ua²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bû-nāi-hô
  - Tâi-lô: bû-nāi-hô
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bunaixhooi
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bu²³⁻³³ nãi³³⁻²¹ hɤ²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bu²⁴⁻¹¹ nãi³³⁻¹¹ ho²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-nāi-hô
  - Tâi-lô: bô-nāi-hô
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boinaixhooi
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ nãi³³⁻²¹ hɤ²³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ nãi³³⁻¹¹ ho²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Magong)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-ta-bôa
  - Tâi-lô: bô-ta-buâ
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'da'boaa

Verb

無奈何

(Hakka, Hokkien) to have no way out; to have no choice
- 2023, 詹雅云 (lyrics and music), “無聲的思念”, in 借酒膽‎^[1], performed by 詹雅雯 and 詹雅云:
  
  無奈何緣分已盡強強離開 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
  无奈何缘分已尽强强离开 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
  bô-nāi-hô iân-hūn í chīn kiōng-kiōng lī-khui [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 沒辦法 (“there is nothing to be done; it cannot be helped; there is no choice; there is no way”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		沒辦法, 無可奈何, 沒奈何, 無可如何, 無計可施
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	沒法子, 沒法兒, 沒轍, 沒門兒, 沒治, 沒咒兒念
	Taiwan	沒辦法
	Harbin	沒轍, 沒門兒, 沒場兒, 沒咒兒念
	Malaysia	沒辦法
	Singapore	沒有辦法, 沒辦法
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	沒門兒, 沒咒兒念
Cantonese	Guangzhou	冇辦法, 冇符, 冇計, 冇收
	Hong Kong	冇辦法, 冇計, 冇符, 冇收, 冇法子
	Taishan	冇符, 冇計, 冇法子
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	冇辦法
	Singapore (Guangfu)	冇辦法
Hakka	Meixian	無辦法, 無結煞, 無法, 無變
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; Raoping)	無結煞, 無結無煞, 無法度, 無奈何
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	無結煞, 無法度, 無辦法, 無奈何
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	無能耐
Southern Min	Xiamen	無法度, 無法, 無法無度, 無辦法, 無變步, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何
	Quanzhou	無法度, 無法, 無變步, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何
	Zhangzhou	無法度, 無法, 無法無度, 無變, 無步, 無路, 無奈何, 無奈得何
	Zhao'an	無變
	Dongshan	無變
	Kaohsiung	無法度
	Yilan	無法度
	Changhua (Lukang)	無法度
	Taichung	無法度
	Taichung (Wuqi)	無法度
	Tainan	無法度, 無步, 無路, 無奈何, 無奈得何
	Taitung	無法度
	Hsinchu	無法度
	Penghu (Magong)	無法度, 無奈何
	Penang (Hokkien)	無法度, 無辦法, 無變
	Singapore (Hokkien)	無變, 無法度, 無法, 無辦法
	Manila (Hokkien)	無法, 無辦法, 無法度, 無變, 無路, 無奈何
	Chaozhou	無變
	Shantou	無辦法, 無計, 無變
	Jieyang	無變, 無步
	Puning	無變, 無辦法, 無能為
	Singapore (Teochew)	無變