相得益彰
xiāng dé yì zhāng
each brings out the best in the other
Character by character
相xiāng
mutual
mutual
得dé
match
match
益yì
more
more
彰zhāng
shine
shine
Example
好茶配上好水，二者相得益彰。
Good tea and good water bring out the best in each other.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From the Han writer 王褒’s 《圣主得贤臣颂》 (相得益章, with 章 for 彰). The subject is a pair (二者、两者、A和B); it takes no object (not ×相得益彰对方). Used of people, things, colours, flavours and partnerships.
Learn this in Lesson 185 · HSK 7–9: 吉利收购沃尔沃 (Geely buys Volvo)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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