Dictionary › 宁可

宁可

nìng kě

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 level 7-9 2-character word Traditional 寧可

宁可 (nìng kě) means "preferably; one would prefer to...(or not to...); would rather". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 宁可 means

1. preferably
2. one would prefer to...(or not to...)
3. would rather
4. (would) be better to
5. (to pick) the lesser of two evils

The characters in 宁可

• 宁nìngwould rather; to prefer; how (emphatic)
• 可kě(prefix) can; may; able to; -able; to approve; to permit; to suit

Example sentences

• 我宁可死也不屈服。
  Wǒ nìngkě sǐ yě bù qūfú.
  I would rather die than yield.
• 我宁可不要单独去那里。
  Wǒ nìngkě bù yào dāndú qù nàli.
  I'd rather not go there alone.
• 我今天晚上宁可不要出门。
  Wǒ jīntiān wǎnshang nìngkě bù yào chūmén.
  I'd rather not go out this evening.
• 与其向命运妥协，我宁可自杀。
  Yǔqí xiàng mìngyùn tuǒxié, wǒ nìngkě zìshā.
  I would rather kill myself than reconcile myself to my fate.
• 他宁可牺牲生命，也不出卖组织。
  He would rather lose his life than betray his organization.
• 宁可当只老虎活一天，也不愿当只兔子过一百年。
  Nìngkě dāng zhī lǎohǔ huó yī tiān, yě bù yuàn dāng zhī tùzi guo yī bǎinián.
  Rather than live a hundred years as a rabbit, live one day as a tiger.

Where 宁可 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Conditional & Hedging Words (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read nìng kě correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.