rather than; would rather
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 2 examplesconjunction
rather than; would better
literaryVariant of 毋宁. Commonly used in the pattern 与其...无宁... to express a preference between two alternatives.
Yǔ与
qí其
qū屈
rǔ辱
de地
huó活
zhe着
，
wú无
nìng宁
guāng光
róng荣
de地
sǐ死
qù去
。
Rather than live in humiliation, one would better die with honor.
Wú无
nìng宁
shuō说
shì是
tā他
de的
gù固
zhí执
，
bù不
rú如
shuō说
shì是
tā他
de的
jiān坚
chí持
。
It is not so much his stubbornness as it is his persistence.