主次

zhǔcì
noun #34,689

Meanings

  1. 1 primary and secondary
  2. 2 the important and the less important
  3. 3 order of priority

Examples

HSK 3
Tā bù fēn zhǔcì, shénme dōu xiǎng zhuā.
He doesn't separate priorities - he tries to grab everything at once.
HSK 6
Zuòshì yào fēnqīng zhǔcì.
When doing things, you have to distinguish what is primary from what is secondary.

Tips

usage
Almost always appears in two set patterns: 分清主次 (distinguish priorities) - used positively, as advice - and 不分主次 (not distinguishing priorities) - used as criticism of someone overwhelmed or scatterbrained. The compound (primary) + (secondary) is itself the classical scheme behind Chinese ranking words.

Stroke Order

zhǔ