过不去
guò bu qù · HSK 7
unable to make it through
🚧 过 cross + 不 not + 去 go = cant cross over; a roadblock you cant get past
Literally cross-not-go: you cannot make it through. Used for a wall in your path, and also figuratively to make life hard for someone, putting a 过不去 obstacle in their way so they cannot move on.
过 — 辶 walk radical + 呙 (phonetic)
过 combines the walking radical 辶, suggesting motion or passage, with 呙 serving as the phonetic component. Originally it depicted crossing or passing by on foot, which extended to meanings like 'to pass,' 'to cross over,' and later 'past' or 'excessive.' The simplified form replaces the traditional 過.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.
去 — 土 earth on top + 厶 (originally 凵, a vessel/container) below
Originally a pictograph showing a person (大) departing from an enclosed area or vessel, suggesting leaving or going away. Over time the top simplified to 土 and the bottom to 厶. The core meaning 'to go, to leave, to depart' has remained stable since ancient Chinese.