一无所有

yī wú suǒ yǒu

to have nothing at all

Character by character

一yī
one

无wú
not

所suǒ
what

有yǒu
have

他刚来这个城市的时候一无所有。

When he first came to this city, he had nothing.

Tone: neutral.

Common in rags-to-riches stories (从一无所有到…); also the title of Cui Jian's 1986 rock anthem.

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