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交朋友 (jiāo péng you) — to make friends, to become friends

Definition

交朋友 is a verb-object phrase meaning 'to make friends / become friends,' emphasizing the act of forming a friendship. The verb 交 here only collocates with friends — don't substitute other verbs.

verb
to make friendsto become friends

Examples

  • 交朋友。
    Wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ jiāo péng you.
    I want to make friends with you.
  • 。
    Tā jiāo le hěn duō hǎo péng you.
    She made many good friends.
  • 。
    Tā zài jù huì shàng jiāo dào le jǐ gè xīn péng you.
    He made several new friends at the party.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

交jiāoassociate
朋友friend
朋péngfriend友yǒufriend
联合Coordinate

交 means associate, 朋友 means friend, so together it means to make 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.

Open 交 →

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

The old form of 朋 showed two strings of cowries side by side; the modern double shape came from this picture.

Open 朋 →

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

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

Open 友 →
Appears in
Friends & Social

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