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I'm writing a story in Chinese (which I go through with my teacher), and this is one sentence from it:

今天是一年中她最讨厌的一天，孔琳宁愿发现来月经而整天肚子疼，也不过今天。
Today is the most annoying day of the year, [and] Kong Lin would rather discover she's having her period and [have a] sore tummy all day, than "experience today".

It's Kong Lin's birthday, but she hates birthdays. Importantly, I don't want to say 过生日, because at this part in the story, the reader doesn't know it's her birthday (it's a mystery for the reader---why does she hate today so much?).

I'm particularly uncomfortable with 也不过今天. Here I'm using 过 to mean "to pass time", and the time is 今天. "Pass today" (or "experience today") is an unnatural thing to say in English, but I'm not trying to write in English.

My teacher skipped this sentence, and I'm not sure if it's because it's a bit quirky, or because it's unproblematic.

Question: Is it okay to write 孔琳宁愿发现来月经而整天肚子疼，也不过今天?

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  • The metaphor is odd. It sounds fine in English, but odd in Chinese.
    – dan
    Feb 6, 2020 at 11:25
  • I mean everything literally (not metaphorically): she literally prefers X [something my character dislikes] over Y [something my character hates].
    – Becky 李蓓 ♦
    Feb 6, 2020 at 11:29
  • Just wondering, are you translating the English sentence into Chinese, or conversely? The English one also sounds somewhat bizarre.
    – Violapterin
    Feb 6, 2020 at 12:30
  • I'm writing a story in Chinese (which I go through with my teacher), and this is one sentence from it. From this sentence, I "translated" it into English, but endeavored to keep the translation direct. But bluntly, the English is irrelevant [I include it just in case it helps an answerer].
    – Becky 李蓓 ♦
    Feb 6, 2020 at 12:32
  • That's even unable to understand. change 过 to 经历， although still needs much other work. The original English even looks weird, I would write I would rather get my period and sore tummy all day than experience "today".
    – 炸鱼薯条德里克
    Feb 6, 2020 at 23:51

3 Answers 3

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I would say 孔琳宁愿一整天经痛，也不愿度过今天。

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  • 孔琳宁愿忍受一整天经痛，也不愿度过今天
    – Shaw
    Feb 6, 2020 at 20:13
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I don't quite understand the 宁愿 part. The comparison seems bizarre.

今天是孔琳一年中最讨厌的一天。她宁愿随便哪天经痛，也不愿安安稳稳度过这一天。

Now it's clear that she hates the exact today, so she would rather choose any other day to go even with a sore tummy, than peacefully pass today.

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2

You may try,

孔琳宁愿来一整天經痛，也不希望今天的到來

If i understand your question correctly.

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