情有可原
qíng yǒu kě yuán
understandable; excusable
Character by character
情qíng
case
case
有yǒu
has
has
可kě
can
can
原yuán
pardon
pardon
Example
他是第一次犯错，情有可原。
It's his first mistake, so it's forgivable.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
原 = forgive. Concedes a reason without fully approving.
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