一动不动 yídòng-búdòng motionless
How to remember 一动不动: 一 one + 动 move + 不 not = motionless.
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How it is used
- 'Motionless, not moving a muscle' - 他一动不动地站着 (tā yídòng-búdòng de zhànzhe) he stood stock-still.
- Vivid, concrete stillness of a body/object; typically an adverbial with 地 or a predicate. Describes physical immobility, not inaction on a task.
- Contrast with 静止 (jìngzhǐ, at rest - technical/physics) which is abstract; 一动不动 is everyday and picturesque.