有則改之,無則加勉

简 有则改之,无则加勉 · 繁 有則改之,無則加勉
Mandarin · pinyin yǒu zé gǎi zhī , wú zé jiā miǎn

Meanings

  1. correct any mistakes you made, but maintain your good record if you did not make them (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

有
yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
則
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改
gǎi · change, alter; improve, remodel
之
zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
無
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加
jiā · add to, increase, augment
勉
miǎn · endeavor, make effort; urge
则
zé · rule, law, regulation; grades
无
wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

jau5 zak1 goi2 zi1 ,mou4 zak1 gaa1 min5

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

有則改之,無則加勉 · you3 ze2 gai3 zhi1 , wu2 ze2 jia1 mian3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 54,938
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record有則改之,無則加勉 有则改之,无则加勉 [you3 ze2 gai3 zhi1 , wu2 ze2 jia1 mian3] /correct any mistakes you made, but maintain your good record if you did not make them (idiom)/