What 得不偿失 means
- The gains do not make up for the losses
These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 得不偿失 will read it the same way this page does.
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How to write 得不偿失
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Questions about 得不偿失
What does 得不偿失 mean in English?
得不偿失 is pronounced débùchángshī and means The gains do not make up for the losses.
How do you pronounce 得不偿失?
得不偿失 is débùchángshī in pinyin — written debuchangshi without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.
What are the characters in 得不偿失?
得不偿失 is written with 4 characters: 得 (dé / děi / de) Get; Have to (need), 不 (bù) No (not), 偿 (cháng) Recompense (compensate - repay), 失 (shī) To lose (fail - miss - break). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.
How is 得不偿失 written in traditional Chinese?
得不償失. The simplified form 得不偿失 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 得不償失 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced débùchángshī.
Is 得不偿失 an HSK word?
Yes — 得不偿失 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.
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