本末倒置 meaning in English
have the order reversed; begin at the wrong end; confuse cause and effect; place the unimportant before the important; put first things last or last things first; put [set] the cart before the horse; put the incidental before the fundamental; put the nonessentials before the essentials; take the branch for the root; take the root for the branch; the first and last turned around; the sauce is better than the fish; turn sth. upside down
Examples
- Your trouble is you have got your priorities back to front !
你因为本末倒置才出了麻烦！ - Wait until we buy a cart before you build the garage; don't put the cart before the horse .
等我们把汽车买到你再修车库好了；不要本末倒置。 - Once his only importance lay in the fact that he was her husband, but now the position was reversed .
以前，他唯一的尊严在于他是她的丈夫，而如今本末倒置了。 - Your trouble is you ' ve got your priorities back to front
你因为本末倒置才出了麻烦 - Don ' t put the cart before the horse
不要把车套在马前头. /不要本末倒置