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事不過三

简事不过三 · 繁事不過三

Mandarin · pinyin shì bù guò sān

(idiom) a thing should not be attempted more than three times; don't repeat the same mistake again and again
(idiom) bad things don't happen more than three times

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Characters in this entry

事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
三: sān · three
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–1 · shi4 bu4 guo4 san1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

事不過三 · find source passages ↗ · 事不过三 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) There will not be a fourth time. / One should not make the same action or mistake more than three times.

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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