交友 (jiāo yǒu) — to make friends, to establish friendships

Definition

A more formal, written-style verb meaning 'to make friends,' often paired with 朋友. Prefer 交朋友 in everyday speech.

verb

to make friendsto establish friendships

交友，。
Tā xǐ huan jiāo yǒu, zǒu dào nǎ lǐ dōu yǒu péng you.
He likes to make friends; wherever he goes he has friends.
。
Wǒ zài zhè zuò chéng shì jiāo le hěn duō péng you.
I made a lot of friends in this city.
交友，。
Wǎng shàng jiāo yǒu yào xiǎo xīn, bié qīng yì xiāng xìn mò shēng rén.
Be careful when making friends online; don't trust strangers easily.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

交jiāoassociate

交 carries the idea of associating, and 友 means friend, so together they express making friends.

Characters in this word

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

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

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

又又友

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Appears in