Chinese word dictionary

宁可

nìngkě · preferably; one would prefer to...(or not to...); would rather; (would) be better to; (to pick) the lesser of two evils

Practice word

Word information

Simplified宁可

Traditional寧可

Pinyinnìngkě

Part of speech副

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.05

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

宁níng

calm, peaceful; healthy; rather; to prefer

可kě

may, can, -able; possibly

How to learn 宁可

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

可以kěyǐ

can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good

可能kěnéng

might (happen); possible; probable; possibility; probability; maybe; perhaps; CL:個|个[ge4]

可kě

(prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit; (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very; but; however

可爱kě’ài

adorable; cute; lovely

可是kěshì

but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed

可惜kěxī

it is a pity; what a pity; unfortunately