未雨绸缪
wèi yǔ chóu móu · lit. before it rains, bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經|诗经); fig. to plan ahead; to prepare for a rainy day
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 未雨绸缪
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.
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
to rain
雨yǔrain; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],場|场[chang2]
雨衣yǔyīraincoat; CL:件[jian4]
暴雨bàoyǔtorrential rain; rainstorm; CL:場|场[chang2],陣|阵[zhen4]
未来wèiláifuture; tomorrow; CL:個|个[ge4]; approaching; coming; pending
雨水yǔshuǐYushui or Rain Water, 2nd of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣|二十四节气 19th February-5th March; rainwater; rainfall; rain