# 顾此失彼

gù cǐ shī bǐ

Attend to one thing and neglect another

## Meaning & wording

**Literally:** Look after this and lose that

**Traditional Chinese:** 顧此失彼

**Register:** Critical · conversational

[Choices & judgment](https://chinese-idioms.yudis.dev/idioms/topics/decisions)

## When to use it

Use when limited attention causes competing needs to be missed.

It concerns an imbalance, not simply choosing a priority deliberately.

## Behind the words

The paired directions make competing demands visible. Written usage describes the difficulty of keeping both sides under control.

The paired demonstratives 此 and 彼 point to competing concerns. The idiom describes attention to one causing another to be missed or neglected. It can arise from overload, poor planning, or limited resources. It is not automatically a moral failure: sometimes the phrase acknowledges a genuine tradeoff that needs a more balanced arrangement.

## Examples

任务太多，很容易顾此失彼。

### Traditional Chinese

任務太多，很容易顧此失彼。

rèn wu tài duō ， hěn róng yì gù cǐ shī bǐ 。

With too many tasks, it is easy to handle one thing and neglect another.

她同时接了太多任务，难免顾此失彼。

### Traditional Chinese

她同時接了太多任務，難免顧此失彼。

tā tóng shí jiē le tài duō rèn wu ， nán miǎn gù cǐ shī bǐ 。

Taking on too many tasks made it hard for her to attend to one without neglecting another.

只赶交货时间却忽略质量，就是顾此失彼。

### Traditional Chinese

只趕交貨時間卻忽略質量，就是顧此失彼。

zhī gǎn jiāo huò shí jiān què hū lüè zhì liàng ， jiù shì gù cǐ shī bǐ 。

Meeting the delivery deadline while neglecting quality sacrifices one concern for another.

安排旅行预算时，别顾此失彼，忘了交通费用。

### Traditional Chinese

安排旅行預算時，別顧此失彼，忘了交通費用。

ān pái lǚ xíng yù suàn shí ， bié gù cǐ shī bǐ ， wàng le jiāo tōng fèi yòng 。

When planning the travel budget, do not focus on one cost and forget transport.

## Sources & reference checks

Original explanations and examples from Chinese Idioms Almanac. Source-checked October 4, 2026.

- [Ministry of Education · 成語典](https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/idiomView.jsp?ID=1152&q=1&webMd=1&la=0)

- [CC-CEDICT · forms & pronunciation](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdqb=%E9%A1%A7%E6%AD%A4%E5%A4%B1%E5%BD%BC)

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