與其

See also: 与其

Chinese

		and; to give; together with and; to give; together with; take part in; (interrog. part.)	his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to something preceding it)
trad. (與其)		與	其
simp. (与其)		与	其

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yǔqí

(Zhuyin): ㄩˇ ㄑㄧˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁵ kei⁴
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): ír-kî / ú-kî / í-kî / í-khî

(Teochew, Peng'im): e² ki⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yǔqí
  - Zhuyin: ㄩˇ ㄑㄧˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yǔcí
  - Wade–Giles: yü³-chʻi²
  - Yale: yǔ-chí
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeuchyi
  - Palladius: юйци (jujci)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /y²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰi³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    與其 / 与其
    雨期
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: jyu⁵ kei⁴
  - Yale: yúh kèih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁵ kei⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yu⁵ kéi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː¹³ kʰei̯²¹/
  - Homophones:
    ^edit
    ^edit
    與其 / 与其
    雨期
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ír-kî
  - Tâi-lô: ír-kî
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /ɯ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ki²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Taipei, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ú-kî
  - Tâi-lô: ú-kî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: w'kii
  - IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /u⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ki²⁴/
- (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: í-kî
  - Tâi-lô: í-kî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: y'kii
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /i⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ki²³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /i⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ki¹³/
- (Hokkien: Longyan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: í-khî
  - Tâi-lô: í-khî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: y'qii
  - IPA (Longyan): /i²¹⁻²¹³ kʰi¹¹/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: e² ki⁵
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ṳ́ khî
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɯ⁵²⁻³⁵ kʰi⁵⁵/

Conjunction

與其

rather than
與其跪著生，毋寧站著死。 [MSC, trad.]
与其跪着生，毋宁站着死。 [MSC, simp.]
Yǔqí guìzhe shēng, wúnìng zhànzhe sǐ. [Pinyin]
It's better to die standing rather than live kneeling.

你與其坐車，不如坐船。 [MSC, trad.]
你与其坐车，不如坐船。 [MSC, simp.]
Nǐ yǔqí zuò chē, bùrú zuò chuán. [Pinyin]
It's better for you to go by boat than by car.

與其說是粗心大意，不如說是不負責任。 [MSC, trad.]
与其说是粗心大意，不如说是不负责任。 [MSC, simp.]
Yǔqí shuō shì cūxīndàyì, bùrú shuō shì bù fù zérèn. [Pinyin]
It's not so much carelessness as irresponsibility.
- 禮，與其奢也，寧儉；喪，與其易也，寧戚。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  礼，与其奢也，宁俭；丧，与其易也，宁戚。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Lǐ, yǔqí shē yě, nìng jiǎn; sàng, yǔqí yì yě, nìng qī. [Pinyin]
  In festive ceremonies, it is better to be sparing than extravagant. In the ceremonies of mourning, it is better that there be deep sorrow than a minute attention to observances.
- 百乘之家，不畜聚斂之臣。與其有聚斂之臣，寧有盜臣。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
  百乘之家，不畜聚敛之臣。与其有聚敛之臣，宁有盗臣。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
  From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Bǎishèng zhī jiā, bù xù jùliǎn zhī chén. Yǔqí yǒu jùliǎn zhī chén, nìng yǒu dàochén. [Pinyin]
  So, the house which possesses a hundred chariots should not keep a minister to look out for imposts that he may lay them on the people. Than to have such a minister, it were better for that house to have one who should rob it of its revenues.

Usage notes

This is usually the first part of the rather than conjunctional construction and occurs before the unfavourable alternative. The second part of the construction contains the more favourable of the alternatives and is headed by 不如 (bùrú), 寧可／宁可 (nìngkě), or 宁肯 (general use), 毋寧／毋宁 (wúnìng) (literary, formal) or 孰若 (literary, archaic).

References

郭启熹 [Guo, Qixi], editor (2016), “与其”, in 龙岩方言词典 LONGYAN FANGYAN CIDIAN [Dictionary of Longyan dialect] (overall work in Min Nan and Mandarin), Xiamen: 鷺江出版社 [Lujiang Publishing House], →ISBN, page 59.