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是非曲直

Mandarin · pinyin shì fēi qū zhí

lit. right and wrong, crooked and straight (idiom); fig. merits and demerits
pros and cons

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Characters in this entry

是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
曲: qū · crooked, bent; wrong, false
直: zhí · straight, erect, vertical

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–2 · shi4 fei1 qu1 zhi2

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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) right and wrong; proper and improper; truth and falsehood

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

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