于事无补 useless
Explanation
对事情毫无帮助或益处。
It is of no use; it is useless.
Origin Story
从前，有个秀才一直苦读诗书，梦想考取功名，光宗耀祖。他日夜苦读，废寝忘食，可是一次次考试都名落孙山。后来，他听信了算命先生的话，说他命里缺水，便跑到河边，对着河水念叨，希望能改变自己的命运。日复一日，他坚持不懈地这样做，但是，最终还是没有考中。他的行为对考取功名于事无补。 另一个故事：一位农夫的庄稼歉收，他把希望寄托在求神拜佛上，每天都虔诚地祈祷，希望上天保佑来年丰收。但是，来年庄稼仍然歉收，他的祈祷于事无补。
Once upon a time, there was a scholar who studied hard, dreaming of passing the imperial examination and bringing glory to his ancestors. He studied day and night, neglecting sleep and food, but failed the examination time after time. Later, he listened to a fortune teller who said that he lacked water in his horoscope, so he went to the river and chanted to change his fate. Day after day, he did so persistently, but in the end he still did not pass. His actions were of no use.
Usage
用于评论对某事毫无作用的行为或做法。
Used to comment on actions or practices that are completely useless for something.
Examples
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他费尽心思想要挽回损失，但最终发现于事无补。
tā fèi jìn xīnsi xiǎng yào wǎnhuí sǔnshī, dàn zuìzhōng fāxiàn yúshì wúbǔ
He tried his best to recover the losses, but in the end, he found it was useless.
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虽然努力尝试了各种方法，但对解决问题于事无补。
suīrán nǔlì chángshìle gè zhǒng fāngfǎ, dàn duì jiějué wèntí yúshì wúbǔ
Although he tried various methods, it was to no avail.
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面对突发事件，他手忙脚乱，采取的措施于事无补。
miàn duì tūfā shìjiàn, tā shǒumángjiǎoluàn, cǎiqǔ de cuòshī yúshì wúbǔ
Faced with unexpected events, he was in a panic, and the measures he took were futile.