麻雀上房柁，冠不大，架子不小麻雀上房柁，冠不大，架子不小麻雀上房柁，冠不大，架子不小

A sparrow on the roof beam: the crest is small, the frame is big

Saying俗语俗語

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

Meaning: Mocks a person of low rank who puts on grand airs.
Wordplay: 冠 (guān, 'crest') puns on 官 (guān, 'official'); 架子 (jiàzi) is both 'roof frame' and 'airs'.

Sign up for a free account to save sentences and hear them read aloud

Simplified: 麻雀上房柁，冠不大，架子不小
Pinyin: máquè shàngfáng tuó, guàn bú dà, jiàzi bù xiǎo
Pinyin (Taiwan): máquè shàngfáng duò, guàn bú dà, jiàzi bù xiǎo
Bopomofo: ㄇㄚˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ ㄕㄤˋ ㄈㄤˊ ㄉㄨㄛˋ，ㄍㄨㄢˋ ㄅㄨˊ ㄉㄚˋ，ㄐㄧㄚˋ ˙ㄗㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ

Written with HSK 7-9 vocabulary, at CEFR level C1.

Words in this sentence

Where this sentence is used

Chinese sayings

Sign up for a free Chinese Boost account

Save the words and sentences you find here to your own list, and hear them read aloud. You can export the list to your flashcards whenever you like.

Create a free account

All Chinese example sentences