Mend the pen after the sheep are lost: 亡羊补牢

HSK 5 Unit 6: Chengyu, four-character idioms · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can follow the story behind 亡羊补牢, and use it to say it's never too late to fix a problem.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

Meaning
What does 马马虎虎 mean?
1. venue, site
2. careless, so-so
3. have a safe journey
That is 场地 (chǎngdì).
That is 一路平安 (yílù píng'ān).
Show the answer
Answer: B, careless, so-so.
马马虎虎 (mǎmǎ hūhū) means careless, so-so.
Characters
Which word means “careless, so-so”?
1. 以及
2. 另一方面
3. 马马虎虎
以及 (yǐjí) means as well as, and.
另一方面 (lìng yì fāngmiàn) means on the other hand.
Show the answer
Answer: C, 马马虎虎.
“careless, so-so” is 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎ hūhū).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
死 sǐ
1. enough
2. merely, only
3. to die
That would be 够 (gòu).
That would be 仅仅 (jǐnjǐn).
Show the answer
Answer: C, to die.
You heard 死 (sǐ): to die.

New words

羊yángsheep
狼lángwolf
劝quànto advise, to urge
补bǔto mend, to make up for

The story and the meaning

亡羊补牢 means mending the pen after a sheep is lost. It is used positively: even after a loss, fixing the problem now is not too late. This is our own simple retelling of the old fable.

你考试没考好，现在努力还来得及，亡羊补牢嘛。
Nǐ kǎoshì méi kǎo hǎo, xiànzài nǔlì hái láidejí, wángyáng bǔláo ma.
You did badly in the exam, but there's still time to work hard: better late than never.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

羊yáng sheepStroke order
狼láng wolfStroke order
劝quàn to advise, to urgeStroke order
补bǔ to mend, to make up forStroke order

The shepherd

Professor Yang tells the story.

Listen first

Play the whole text and answer the questions before you open it.

Helpful words: 嘛 ma (particle: it's obvious); 亡羊补牢 wángyáng bǔláo to mend the pen after losing sheep (it's not too late to fix things); 羊圈 yángjuān sheep pen; 窟窿 kūlong hole; 叼 diāo to carry in the mouth; 从前 cóngqián once upon a time; 养 yǎng to keep (animals); 亏 kuī to lose (money); 管理 guǎnlǐ management

Listening
Listen first. Why was the first sheep missing?
1. It ran away into the hills.
2. Someone stole it from the pen.
3. A wolf got in through a hole.
Show the answer
Answer: C, A wolf got in through a hole..
狼进来，把羊叼走了.
Listening
What did he say at first?
1. He would mend the pen at once.
2. What's the use of mending it now?
3. He would buy a dog to guard it.
Show the answer
Answer: B, What's the use of mending it now?.
补有什么用？
Listening
What does the idiom mean?
1. It's too late to do anything now.
2. You should stop keeping sheep.
3. It's not too late to fix the problem.
Show the answer
Answer: C, It's not too late to fix the problem..
亡羊补牢: not too late.

Show the text

从前Cóngqián，有yǒu一yí个gè人rén养yǎng了le很hěn多duō羊yáng。
Once upon a time, a man kept many sheep.
一Yì天tiān早上zǎoshang，他tā发现fāxiàn少shǎo了le一yì只zhī羊yáng。原来Yuánlái羊圈yángjuān上shàng有yǒu一yí个gè窟窿kūlong，晚上wǎnshang狼láng进来jìnlai，把bǎ羊yáng叼diāo走zǒu了le。
One morning he found a sheep missing. There was a hole in the pen; at night a wolf had got in and carried a sheep away.
邻居Línjū劝quàn他tā：“快kuài把bǎ羊圈yángjuān补bǔ好hǎo吧ba！”
His neighbour urged him: "Mend the pen quickly!"
他Tā说shuō：“羊yáng已经yǐjīng丢diū了le，补bǔ有yǒu什么shénme用yòng？”
He said: "The sheep is already gone. What's the use of mending it?"
第Dì二èr天tiān早上zǎoshang，他tā发现fāxiàn又yòu少shǎo了le一yì只zhī羊yáng。
The next morning, another sheep was missing.
这Zhè次cì他tā很hěn后悔hòuhuǐ，马上mǎshàng把bǎ窟窿kūlong补bǔ好hǎo了le。从Cóng那nà以后yǐhòu，狼láng再zài也yě没有méiyǒu进来jìnlai过guo。
This time he regretted it and immediately mended the hole. After that, the wolf never got in again.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

邻居劝他：“快把羊圈补好吧！”
Línjū quàn tā: “Kuài bǎ yángjuān bǔ hǎo ba!”
His neighbour urged him: "Mend the pen quickly!"
他说：“羊已经丢了，补有什么用？”
Tā shuō: “Yáng yǐjīng diū le, bǔ yǒu shénme yòng?”
He said: "The sheep is already gone. What's the use of mending it?"
这次他很后悔，马上把窟窿补好了。从那以后，狼再也没有进来过。
Zhè cì tā hěn hòuhuǐ, mǎshàng bǎ kūlong bǔ hǎo le. Cóng nà yǐhòu, láng zài yě méiyǒu jìnlai guo.
This time he regretted it and immediately mended the hole. After that, the wolf never got in again.

Practice

Meaning
What does 羊 mean?
1. sheep
2. scenery, view
3. to understand, clear
That is 风景 (fēngjǐng).
That is 明白 (míngbai).
Show the answer
Answer: A, sheep.
羊 (yáng) means sheep.
Characters
Which word means “wolf”?
1. 万
2. 狼
3. 补
万 (wàn) means ten thousand.
补 (bǔ) means to mend, to make up for.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 狼.
“wolf” is 狼 (láng).
Pinyin
How do you read 劝 (to advise, to urge)?
1. quǎn
2. quàn
3. quán
Show the answer
Answer: B, quàn.
劝 is read quàn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
补 bǔ
1. lazy
2. to mend, to make up for
3. apple
That would be 懒 (lǎn).
That would be 苹果 (píngguǒ).
Show the answer
Answer: B, to mend, to make up for.
You heard 补 (bǔ): to mend, to make up for.
Your turn
Recall: type the Chinese for “sheep” (characters or pinyin).
Show the answer
Answer: 羊
“sheep” is 羊 (yáng).
Listening
Listen. Which sentence did you hear?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
这次他很后悔，马上把窟窿补好了。从那以后，狼再也没有进来过。 Zhè cì tā hěn hòuhuǐ, mǎshàng bǎ kūlong bǔ hǎo le. Cóng nà yǐhòu, láng zài yě méiyǒu jìnlai guo.
1. One morning he found a sheep missing. There was a hole in the pen; at night a wolf had got in and carried a sheep away.
2. He said: "The sheep is already gone. What's the use of mending it?"
3. This time he regretted it and immediately mended the hole. After that, the wolf never got in again.
Show the answer
Answer: C, This time he regretted it and immediately mended the hole. After that, the wolf never got in again..
You heard 这次他很后悔，马上把窟窿补好了。从那以后，狼再也没有进来过。 (Zhè cì tā hěn hòuhuǐ, mǎshàng bǎ kūlong bǔ hǎo le. Cóng nà yǐhòu, láng zài yě méiyǒu jìnlai guo.): This time he regretted it and immediately mended the hole. After that, the wolf never got in again.
Reading
Read: 他的公司去年亏了很多钱。今年他改变了管理方法，亡羊补牢，公司慢慢好起来了。 What did he do?
1. changed his management to fix the problem
2. closed the company and started again
3. sold the company to someone else
Show the answer
Answer: A, changed his management to fix the problem.
改变了管理方法，亡羊补牢.
Grammar
Which sentence means He mended the hole?
1. 他补了窟窿好。
2. 他把窟窿补好了。
3. 他窟窿把补好了。
Show the answer
Answer: B, 他把窟窿补好了。.
他把窟窿补好了。: 把 + object + verb + result.
In context
Your friend failed an exam but wants to study now for the next one. Which idiom fits?
1. 一路平安
2. 马马虎虎
3. 亡羊补牢
Show the answer
Answer: C, 亡羊补牢.
亡羊补牢: better late than never.
Your turn
Type the Chinese for wolf
Show the answer
Answer: 狼
狼: wolf.

Tell the story

Retell 亡羊补牢 out loud, then give a modern example.

What happened the first night and what the neighbour advised.
What happened next and what the man did.
A modern example from work or study.

Sentence frames

虽然已经＿＿了，但是亡羊补牢，＿＿。
Suīrán yǐjīng ＿＿ le, dànshì wángyáng bǔláo, ＿＿.
Although ... already ..., better late than never: ...

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

I can retell 亡羊补牢.
I can use it about fixing a problem late.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: The spear and the shield: 自相矛盾

1 Warm-up: do you remember?

2 New words

3 The story and the meaning

4 Characters

5 The shepherd