Shareables · HSK 4 · 文 · Culture
成语 · 亡羊补牢
Mend the pen after the sheep is lost. It is still not too late.
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亡羊补牢wáng yáng bǔ láoto mend the pen after losing a sheep: to fix the cause before it costs you again
逐字 · CHARACTER BY CHARACTER
| Character | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 亡 | wáng | to lose, to flee |
| 羊 | yáng | sheep |
| 补 | bǔ | to mend, to patch |
| 牢 | láo | pen, fold |
A shepherd lost a sheep through a hole in the fence and shrugged. He lost another the next night. Then he mended the hole, and lost no more. The idiom is not about the sheep. It is about the hole. 《战国策》
常说 · THE FULL SAYING
Wáng yáng bǔ láo, wéi shí wèi wǎn.亡羊补牢，为时未晚。Mend the pen after losing the sheep — it still isn't too late.
What this card is
A one-page Chinese lesson from the HSK 4 set, filed under 文 · Culture. Mend the pen after the sheep is lost. It is still not too late.
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Where it fits
The source: 亡羊补牢 in the dictionary.
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