天道酬勤

tiān dào chóu qín

heaven rewards the diligent

Character by character

天tiān
heaven

道dào
way

酬chóu
reward

勤qín
diligence

天道酬勤，你的努力一定会有回报。

Hard work pays off — your effort will be rewarded.

Tone: positive (praise).

A favourite motto for classroom walls and calligraphy scrolls.

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This idiom and thousands more are in Learn Chinese with Bao, with audio, pinyin and drills that make them stick.