早知今日，何必當初

早知今日，何必當初

See also: 早知今日，何必当初

Chinese

		to know earlier; foresight; foreknowledge to know earlier; foresight; foreknowledge; precognition	today; now; nowadays		why; why on earth; why bother	originally; at first; at that time originally; at first; at that time; at the outset; in the first place
trad. (早知今日，何必當初)		早知	今日	，	何必	當初
simp. (早知今日，何必当初)		早知	今日	，	何必	当初
Literally: “if one had known about this day from the beginning, there would have been no point in starting”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zǎozhī jīnrì, hébì dāngchū

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄠˇ ㄓ ㄐㄧㄣ ㄖˋ, ㄏㄜˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄉㄤ ㄔㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zou² zi¹ gam¹ jat⁶, ho⁴ bit¹ dong¹ co¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: zǎozhī jīnrì, hébì dāngchū
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄠˇ ㄓ ㄐㄧㄣ ㄖˋ, ㄏㄜˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄉㄤ ㄔㄨ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzaojy jinryh, herbih dangchu
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ t͡ɕin⁵⁵ ʐ̩⁵¹ xɤ³⁵ pi⁵¹ tɑŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: zou² zi¹ gam¹ jat⁶, ho⁴ bit¹ dong¹ co¹
    • Yale: jóu jī gām yaht, hòh bīt dōng chō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzou² dzi¹ gam¹ jat⁹, ho⁴ bit⁷ dong¹ tso¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zou² ji¹ gem¹ yed⁶, ho⁴ bid¹ dong¹ co¹
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡sou̯³⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ kɐm⁵⁵ jɐt̚² hɔː²¹ piːt̚⁵ tɔːŋ⁵⁵ t͡sʰɔː⁵⁵/

Idiom

早知今日，何必當初

1. to regret one's past behaviour

Synonyms

• 既有今日，何必當初／既有今日，何必当初 (jìyǒu jīnrì hébì dāngchū)