be forced to; have no alternative but to (adj.)
HSK 6
Traditional
不得已 (unaltered)
Radicals
Stroke order
Examples
他不得已才同意了这个计划。 tā bù dé yǐ cái tóng yì le zhè ge jì huà. - He agreed to the plan reluctantly.
我们不得已取消了旅行。 wǒ men bù dé yǐ qǔ xiāo le lǚ xíng. - We had no choice but to cancel the trip.
由于天气原因，比赛不得已推迟了。 yóu yú tiān qì yuán yīn, bǐ sài bù dé yǐ tuī chí le. - Due to weather, the match had to be postponed.
他们不得已放弃了项目。 tā men bù dé yǐ fàng qì le xiàng mù. - They had no choice but to abandon the project.
他不得已辞去了工作。 tā bù dé yǐ cí qù le gōng zuò. - He had no choice but to resign.
Characters
不 bù - not; no (negation) | HSK 1
得 de - [particle to connect verb to adverb] | HSK 2
得 de - feel | HSK 4
已 yǐ - already; (lit.) thereafter; (lit.) too, excessively |