HSK 6 · Function Words

宁愿 nìngyuàn “would rather” in Chinese

Traditional 寧願

What 宁愿 means

  1. would rather
  2. prefer to
  3. would rather … (than …)

How to say 宁愿

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale宁nìng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale愿yuàn4th tone, falling

宁愿 in a sentence

  1. 我宁愿呆在这里。

    Wǒ nìngyuàn dāi zài zhèlǐ.

    I’d rather stay here.

    Sentence #453765 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我宁愿饿着也不吃这个。

    Wǒ nìngyuàn è zhe yě bù chī zhè ge.

    I’d rather go hungry than eat this.

    Sentence #1948465 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我宁愿不睡觉也要看完这本书。

    Wǒ nìngyuàn bú shuìjiào yě yào kàn wán zhè běn shū.

    I’d rather go without sleep and finish this book.

    Sentence #794471 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 宁愿 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 宁 (nìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
宁nìngwould rather
  • 宀roof · miánMeaning part
  • 丁part of the characterSound part
The character 愿 (yuàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
愿yuànhonest and prudent
  • 原source · yuánSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 原 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuàn.

How to write 宁愿

宁 5 strokes · 愿 14 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

宁愿 (nìngyuàn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 宁愿 (nìngyuàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 宁愿

Words with 宁

宁可nìngkě · preferably安宁ānníng · peaceful宁肯nìngkěn · would rather

Words with 愿

愿意yuànyì · be willing自愿zìyuàn · voluntary愿望yuànwàng · desire志愿者zhìyuànzhě · volunteer心甘情愿xīngānqíngyuàn · willingly

More words: Function Words & Grammar

免得miǎnde · so as not to明明míngmíng · clearly默默mòmò · silently宁肯nìngkěn · would rather哦ò · oh (indicating understanding)偏偏piānpiān · unexpectedly譬如pìrú · for example颇pō · rather

FAQs

宁愿 (nìngyuàn) means “would rather” or “prefer to”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it nìngyuàn: nìng with a 4th tone, then yuàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 宁愿 is written 寧願. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ningyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 宁愿 from the suggestions. Typing ningyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
宁愿 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.