| ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | PlainPY | English Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Chinese | Trad. | Pinyin | PlainPY | English Definition | ||
| 1 | 宁可 | 寧可 | nìng kě | ning4 ke3 | preferably; one would prefer to...(or not to...); would rather; (would) be better to; (to pick) the lesser of two evils | ||
| 2 | 宁愿 | 寧願 | nìng yuàn | ning4 yuan4 | would rather; better | ||
| 3 | 宁肯 | 寧肯 | nìng kěn | ning4 ken3 | would rather...; it would be better...; would prefer | ||
| 4 | 宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 | 寧做雞頭，不做鳳尾 | nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi | ning4 zuo4 ji1 tou2 , bu4 zuo4 feng4 wei3 | lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom); fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond | ||
| 5 | 宁 | 寧 | nìng | ning4 | would rather; to prefer; how (emphatic); Taiwan pr. [ning2]; old variant of 宁 | ||
| 6 | 宁左勿右 | 寧左勿右 | nìng zuǒ wù yòu | ning4 zuo3 wu4 you4 | (of one's political views) to prefer left rather than right (idiom during the Cultural Revolution) | ||
| 7 | 宁早勿迟 | 寧早勿遲 | nìng zǎo wù chí | ning4 zao3 wu4 chi2 | better be early than late (idiom) | ||
| 8 | 宁为玉碎，不为瓦全 | 寧為玉碎，不為瓦全 | nìng wéi yù suì , bù wéi wǎ quán | ning4 wei2 yu4 sui4 , bu4 wei2 wa3 quan2 | Better broken jade than intact tile.; Death is preferable to dishonor. (idiom) | ||
| 9 | 宁为鸡头，不为凤尾 | 寧為雞頭，不為鳳尾 | nìng wéi jī tóu , bù wéi fèng wěi | ning4 wei2 ji1 tou2 , bu4 wei2 feng4 wei3 | see 寧做雞頭 ，宁做鸡头 ，不做凤尾 | ||
| 10 | 宁死刀下 | 寧死刀下 | nìng sǐ dāo xià | ning4 si3 dao1 xia4 | would rather die than submit (idiom) | ||
| 11 | 宁死不做 | 寧死不做 | nìng sǐ bù zuò | ning4 si3 bu4 zuo4 | would sooner die than do (such a thing) (idiom) | ||
| 12 | 宁死不降 | 寧死不降 | nìng sǐ bù xiáng | ning4 si3 bu4 xiang2 | to prefer death to surrender (idiom) | ||
| 13 | 宁死不为 | 寧死不為 | nìng sǐ bù wéi | ning4 si3 bu4 wei2 | would rather die than... (idiom) | ||
| 14 | 宁死不辱 | 寧死不辱 | nìng sǐ bù rǔ | ning4 si3 bu4 ru3 | to prefer death to disgrace (idiom) | ||
| 15 | 宁死不屈 | 寧死不屈 | nìng sǐ bù qū | ning4 si3 bu4 qu1 | rather die than submit (idiom) | ||
| 16 | 宁死不讲 | 寧死不講 | nìng sǐ bù jiǎng | ning4 si3 bu4 jiang3 | to rather die than speak (idiom) | ||
| 17 | 宁死不活 | 寧死不活 | nìng sǐ bù huó | ning4 si3 bu4 huo2 | rather be dead than alive (idiom) | ||
| 18 | 宁缺勿滥 | 寧缺勿濫 | nìng quē wù làn | ning4 que1 wu4 lan4 | same as 宁缺毋滥 | ||
| 19 | 宁缺毋滥 | 寧缺毋濫 | nìng quē wú làn | ning4 que1 wu2 lan4 | better to have nothing (than substandard choice) (idiom); would prefer to go without than accept shoddy option |
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