人为财死，鸟为食亡 rén wèi cái sǐ ， niǎo wèi shí wáng

fig. man will do anything in his means to become rich

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. fig. man will do anything in his means to become rich
  2. 2. lit. human beings will die for riches, just as birds will for food (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
人 rén HSK 1
person; people; man
为 wèi HSK 2
for; because of; to
财 cái HSK 5
wealth; money; property
死 sǐ HSK 4
to die; extremely; inflexible
鸟 niǎo HSK 3
bird; (intensifier) damned; goddam
为 wèi HSK 2
for; because of; to
食 shí HSK 5
to eat; food; animal feed
亡 wáng HSK 6
to die; deceased; to be gone