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信教 (xìn jiāo) — to be religious; to follow a religion; to profess a religion

Definition

信教 means to follow a religion or be religious as a believer — not just to know about one. Used as a verb phrase (可分离): 信什么教, 信了教, 不信教.

verb
to be religiousto follow a religionto profess a religion

Examples

  • 信教。
    Hěn duō zhōng guó rén bú xìn jiāo.
    Many Chinese people are not religious.
  • 。
    Tā qù nián xìn le jiào.
    He became religious last year.
  • ？
    Nǐ xìn shén me jiào?
    What religion do you follow?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

信xìnbelieve
教jiàoreligion

信 (believe) with 教 (religion) gives 'follow a religion'.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →
Appears in
Religion & Belief

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