This site will be taken down March 31st, 2026.

This was not an easy decision to make. For the last couple years, I have been struggling to find motivation for this site and to keep up with basic maintenance and security updates. With the rise of AI and more sophisticated tools, the usefulness of sites like this is questionable and traffic has nose-dived. I just don't have it in me to keep doing this. Thank you all for 10 years of support!

Zach

沈黙せよ、そうでなければ沈黙に優ることを言え。

Sentence Analyzer

沈黙せよ そう でなければ 沈黙 優る こと 言え

English Translation

Be silent, or say something better than silence.

Furigana

沈黙(ちんもく)せよ、そうでなければ沈黙(ちんもく)(まさ)ることを()え。

Romanji

Chinmokuseyo, sō denakereba chinmoku ni masaru koto o ie.

Words

沈黙 (ちんもく)
silence; being silent; quiet; hush; reticence; inaction
そう (そう)
so; really; seeming; appearing that; seeming that; looking like; having the appearance of
()
be; is; indicates past or completed action; indicates light imperative
()
at (place, time); in; on; during; to (direction, state); toward; into; for (purpose); because of (reason); for; with; by; from; as (i.e. in the role of); per; in; for; a (e.g. "once a month"); and; in addition to; if; although
勝る (まさる)
to excel; to surpass; to exceed; to have an edge; to be superior; to outrival; to outweigh; to preponderate
(こと、こん)
thing; matter; incident; occurrence; event; something serious; trouble; crisis; circumstances; situation; state of affairs; work; business; affair; after an inflectable word, creates a noun phrase indicating something the speaker does not feel close to; nominalizing suffix; pretending to ...; playing make-believe ...; alias; aka; nickname; alternative name; also known as
()
indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.
言える (いえる)
to be possible to say; to be able to say

Kanji

Readings: チン、 ジン、 しず.む、 しず.める
Meanings: sink, be submerged, subside, be depressed, aloes
Readings: モク、 ボク、 だま.る、 もだ.す
Meanings: silence, become silent, stop speaking, leave as is
Readings: ユウ、 ウ、 やさ.しい、 すぐ.れる、 まさ.る
Meanings: tenderness, excel, surpass, actor, superiority, gentleness
Readings: ゲン、 ゴン、 い.う、 こと
Meanings: say, word