Chinese word dictionary

宁左勿右

nìng zuǒ wù yòu · (of one's political views) to prefer left rather than right (idiom during the Cultural Revolution)

Practice word

Word information

Simplified宁左勿右

Traditional寧左勿右

Pinyinnìng zuǒ wù yòu

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

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

左zuǒ

left; unorthodox, improper

勿wù

must not, do not; without, never

右yòu

right; right-wing

How to learn 宁左勿右

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.

右yòu

(bound form) right; right-hand side; (bound form) (politics) right of center; (bound form) (old) west; (literary) the right side as the side of precedence

右边yòubian

right side; right, to the right

左zuǒ

left; the Left (politics); east; unorthodox; queer; wrong; differing; opposite; variant of 佐[zuo3]; surname Zuo

左边zuǒbian

left; the left side; to the left of

左右zuǒyòu

left and right; nearby; approximately; attendant; to control; to influence

安宁ānníng

peaceful; tranquil; calm; composed; free from worry; see 安寧區|安宁区[An1 ning2 Qu1]; see 安寧市|安宁市[An1 ning2 Shi4]