自作自受
zì zuò zì shòu
to reap what you sowed
Character by character
自zì
self
self
作zuò
do
do
自zì
self
self
受shòu
suffer
suffer
Example
他不听劝告,现在是自作自受。
He wouldn't listen to advice, and now he's paying for it.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Blunt and unsympathetic, close to 活该.
Learn it in context
This idiom and thousands more are in Learn Chinese with Bao, with audio, pinyin and drills that make them stick.
Start the course free →