早知今日何必当初

Traditional form:

早知今日何必當初

Pinyin (reading):

zǎozhījīnrìhébìdāngchū

Definitions:

• if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom)
• to regret vainly one's past behavior

Characters:

• 早 - early; soon; morning
• 知 - to know, to perceive, to comprehend
• 今 - modern, current; today, now
• 日 - sun; day; daytime
• 何 - what, why, where, which, how
• 必 - surely, certainly; must; will
• 当 - appropriate, timely; to act, to serve; the sound of bells
• 初 - beginning, initial, primary

Traditional characters:

• 早 - early; soon; morning
• 知 - to know, to perceive, to comprehend
• 今 - modern, current; today, now
• 日 - sun; day; daytime
• 何 - what, why, where, which, how
• 必 - surely, certainly; must; will
• 當 - appropriate, timely; to act, to serve; the sound of bells
• 初 - beginning, initial, primary