一個巴掌拍不響

一个巴掌拍不响
yīgèbāzhangpāibùxiǎng

it takes two to tango

Wiktionary

Homographs

一個巴掌拍不響 yīgebāzhǎngpāibùxiǎng
  1. lit. one palm alone cannot clap (proverb)
  2. fig. it takes two persons to start a dispute
  3. it takes two to tango
  4. it's difficult to achieve anything without support

Entry Composition

=1 一個 yīge
  1. a; an; one
  2. the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc)
=1 一個 yīgè
  1. Combination of the numeral 一 (“one”) and the generic classifier 個／个: a; an; one
  2. same
2 巴掌 bāzhang
  1. palm of the hand
  2. classifier: slap
3 拍 pāi
  1. to pat
  2. to clap
  3. to slap
  4. to swat
  5. to take (a photo)
  6. to shoot (a film)
  7. racket (sports)
  8. beat (music)
4 不 bù
  1. no; not so
  2. (bound form) not; un-
5 響 xiǎng
  1. echo
  2. sound
  3. noise
  4. to make a sound
  5. to sound
  6. to ring
  7. loud
  8. classifier for noises