Sentence PatternsHSK 5
Expressing "would rather" with 宁可
Use 宁可 to express a strong preference for one option over another, often when both choices are undesirable. The preferred (less unfavorable) option follows 宁可, and the less preferred option follows 也不, which negates it. Note that 也 is required in the pattern even though it seems redundant.
Structure
宁可 + [Preference] + 也不 + [Rejected Action]
也 must appear before 不
Examples
- 我宁可没有男朋友，也不要随便找一个男朋友。Wǒ nìng kě méi yǒu nán péng you, yě bú yào suí biàn zhǎo yí gè nán péng you.I'd rather have no boyfriend than find a random one.
- 我们宁可早到也不要迟到。Wǒ men nìng kě zǎo dào yě bú yào chí dào.We'd rather arrive early than late.
- 他宁可输，也不放弃。Tā nìng kě shū, yě bú fàng qì.He'd rather lose than give up.
- 我宁可这个月少花一点，也不找父母要钱。Wǒ nìng kě zhè ge yuè shǎo huā yì diǎn, yě bù zhǎo fù mǔ yào qián.I'd rather spend less money this month than ask my parents for money.
- 妈妈宁可把这些东西送给陌生人，也不扔掉。Mā ma nìng kě bǎ zhè xiē dōng xī sòng gěi mò shēng rén, yě bù rēng diào.Mom would rather give these things to strangers than throw them away.