二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず

Japanese

Kanji in this term
二	兎	追	者	一	兎	得
に Grade: 1	と Jinmeiyō	お Grade: 3	もの Grade: 3	いち > いっ Grade: 1	と Jinmeiyō	え Grade: 5
on'yomi		kun'yomi		on'yomi		kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Literally, “he who runs after two hares does not catch even one”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ito̞ o̞ o̞ɯ̟ mo̞no̞ β̞a̠ it̚to̞ o̞ mo̞ e̞zɨ]

Proverb

二(に)兎(と)を追(お)う者(もの)は一(いっ)兎(と)をも得(え)ず • (nito o ou mono wa itto o mo ezu) ^{←にとをおふものはいつとをもえず (nito wo ofu mono fa ituto wo mo ezu)?}

1. grasp all, lose all (if you try to do two things at the same time, you will succeed in neither)

References

• “二^▲兎を追う者は一^▲兎をも得ず”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎ (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025