本末倒置

běnmòdàozhì

idiom #39,945

Meanings

1 to put the cart before the horse
2 to confuse cause and effect
3 to reverse priorities

Characters

root; fundamental

upside-down; reversed

Examples

不好好学习却花钱买设备，这是本末倒置。

Bù hǎohǎo xuéxí què huāqián mǎi shèbèi, zhè shì běnmòdàozhì.

Buying fancy gear instead of actually studying is putting the cart before the horse.

为了赚钱而牺牲健康，简直是本末倒置。

Wèile zhuànqián ér xīshēng jiànkāng, jiǎnzhí shì běnmòdàozhì.

Sacrificing your health to make money is completely backwards.

Tips

history

From the Jin-dynasty 《绥德州新学记》: 「非知治之审，则未尝不本末倒置」 — 'without a careful grasp of governance, root and branch will be upended.' 本 ('root') and 末 ('branch tip') come from the tree metaphor for priority ordering throughout classical Chinese thought.

memory

Think of a tree flipped upside-down: 本 (the root, what matters) is now on top and 末 (the branch tips, trivial details) dug into the ground — that's exactly backwards.

Stroke Order

本 běn

末 mò

倒 dào

置 zhì