不妨 (bù fáng) — there is no harm in; might as well | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A mild suggestion: 'no harm in / might as well try.' Softer than 索性, which is more decisive — 索性 implies 'just go for it,' while 不妨 only floats the idea.

adverb

there is no harm inmight as well

Examples

，不妨。
Jì rán nǐ yǒu xìng qù, bù fáng qù liǎo jiě yí xià.
Since you're interested, you might as well go learn about it.
，不妨。
Zhè ge wèn tí bù nán, bù fáng zì jǐ shì shì.
This question isn't hard; there's no harm in trying it yourself.
，不妨。
Zhōu mò méi shì de huà, bù fáng lái wǒ jiā zuò zuò.
If you're free on the weekend, you might as well come over to my place.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不 gives no and 妨 gives harm, so the sense is there is no harm.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女方妨

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

方fāng妨fáng

Same sound today

妨 pairs 女 (woman) with 方, which once meant taking up space, to show someone being blocked from approaching a woman.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6

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