日积月累 (rì jī yuè lěi)

Character breakdown

• 日 (Rì) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of the sun.

• 积 (jī) · 10 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 只 represents the sound. Simplified form of 積.

• 月 (yuè) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of the moon.

• 累 (lěi) · 11 strokes

  Simplified form of 纍. 田 is shorthand for the phonetic component 畾. 糸 represents the meaning "wind around, bind". The meaning later expanded to "tired".

Usage

词汇要靠日积月累，不能一蹴而就。

Vocabulary depends on daily accumulation; it can't be done overnight.

Cíhuì yào kào rìjīyuèlěi, bù néng yīcùérjiù.