偏巧 (piān qiǎo) — by chance; as luck would have it (often with a sense of irony or unexpectedness)

Definition

An adverb meaning 'as luck would have it' or 'by coincidence' — often implies a slight ironic or unexpected twist. Sets up a surprising or unwelcome coincidence that follows from what was just said.

adverb
by chanceas luck would have it (often with a sense of irony or unexpectedness)

Examples

  • ，偏巧。
    Wǒ zhèng yào chū mén, piān qiǎo xià qǐ dà yǔ lái le.
    I was just about to go out when, as luck would have it, it started pouring rain.
  • 偏巧，。
    piān qiǎo Nà tiān tā bú zài jiā, wǒ méi jiàn dào tā.
    As it happened, he wasn't home that day, so I didn't get to see him.
  • ，偏巧。
    Wǒ men zhǎo le tā bàn tiān, piān qiǎo tā zài tú shū guǎn lǐ.
    We looked for him for ages, and as luck would have it, he was in the library.

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.

偏piānunexpectedly
巧qiǎocoincidental

偏巧 joins 偏 (unexpectedly) with 巧 (coincidental) to mean by chance.

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn偏piān
Same sound today

偏 combines 亻 (人, a person) with 扁, which gives the sound.

Open 偏 →

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
工工gōng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo巧qiǎo
Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Open 巧 →

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