KANAE
087Japanese proverb ことわざ

三度目の正直

Sandome no shōjiki

“The third time is the charm.”

Word for wordThe third time, sincerity.

The meaning

The first two tries teach; the third harvests. Trying again is not stubbornness, if each attempt keeps the lesson of the one before.

At the origin

A proverb of encouragement, exact counterpoint of "what happens twice will happen three times".

The characters

  1. 三度目 sandomethird time
  2. の noof (link)
  3. 正直

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.

In practice

Before the third try, write down what the first two taught.

Themes

In the collections · Nanakorobi

Similar proverbs

  1. 086 What happens twice will happen three times.
  2. 173 Honesty is the treasure of a lifetime.
  3. 001 Even a stone grows warm if you sit on it for three years.
  4. 302 One step a day: in three days, three steps.
  5. 187 Returning in a cloud of dust.

Related expressions

  1. 064 Early rising earns three coins of profit.
  2. 194 Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreat is the finest.
  3. 250 Three in the morning, four at night.
  4. 253 Two people, three legs.

See also