前车之覆，后车之鉴

Traditional: 前車之覆，後車之鑒

qián chē zhī fù , hòu chē zhī jiàn

Dictionary entry

lit. the cart in front overturns, a warning to the following cart (idiom); fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor

What does 前车之覆，后车之鉴 mean?

前车之覆，后车之鉴 (qián chē zhī fù , hòu chē zhī jiàn) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. the cart in front overturns, a warning to the following cart (idiom); fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor

2learn from past mistake

3once bitten twice shy

Character breakdown

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前qiánfront · forward 车Chēsurname Che 之zhī(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) · him 覆fùto cover · to overflow 后Hòusurname Hou 鉴jiànvariant of 鑑|鉴[jian4]

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How to pronounce 前车之覆，后车之鉴

前车之覆，后车之鉴

qián chē zhī fù , hòu chē zhī jiàn

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.