我想解決這個問題，可是白費功夫。

I tried in vain to deal with the problem.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 我 wǒ
  1. I
  2. me
  3. my
2 想 xiǎng
  1. to think (about)
  2. to think of; to devise
  3. to think (that); to believe (that)
  4. to desire; to want (to)
  5. to miss (feel wistful about the absence of)
3 解決 jiějué
  1. to solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem)
  2. to eliminate; to wipe out (an enemy, bandits etc)
4 這個 zhège
  1. (pronoun) this
  2. (adjective) this
5 問題 wèntí
  1. question
  2. problem
  3. issue
  4. topic

classifier: 個
6 可是 kěshì
  1. but; however
  2. (used for emphasis) indeed
7 白費 báifèi to waste (one's energy etc)
8 功夫 gōngfu
  1. skill
  2. art
  3. kung fu
  4. labor
  5. effort