树大阴凉小，照映不到樹大陰涼小，照映不到樹大陰涼小，照映不到

a big tree, a small patch of shade: its shade can't cover everything

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: Someone is unable to look after everything or everyone properly.
Wordplay: 映 (yìng) is written for 应 (yìng): 照映 'cast over' sounds like 照应 'look after', so the shade that fails to cover also means failing to take care.

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Simplified: 树大阴凉小，照映不到
Traditional (Taiwan): 樹大陰涼小，照映不到
Pinyin: shù dà yīnliáng xiǎo, zhàoyìng búdào
Bopomofo: ㄕㄨˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄧㄣㄌㄧㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄠˇ，ㄓㄠˋ ㄧㄥˋ ㄅㄨˊ ㄉㄠˋ

Written with HSK 3 vocabulary, at CEFR level A2.

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