传球 (chuán qiú) — to pass the ball (in team sports)

Definition

传球 (chuán qiú) means 'to pass the ball' in team sports like basketball, football, or soccer. It is a separable verb — the object (e.g. 好球) inserts between 传 and 球.

verb

to pass the ball (in team sports)

Examples

。
Tā zài bǐ sài zhōng chuán le yí gè hǎo qiú.
He made a good pass during the game.
传球，。
Zhè ge duì de chuán qiú fēi cháng chū sè, pèi hé hěn mò qì.
This team's passing is excellent; their coordination is very smooth.
传球。
Jiào liàn yāo qiú wǒ men duō liàn xí chuán qiú hé jiē qiú.
The coach asked us to practice more passing and receiving.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

传chuánpass

球qiúball

“传” means pass and “球” means ball, so it describes passing a ball in a game.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 傳; 传 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

人人rénman

Sound part声符shēngfú

專

專zhuān傳chuán

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 傳 puts 人 (man) beside 專, which gives the sound; the simplified 传 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 传 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú球qiú

Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →

Appears in

Ball Games Sports & Athletics