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偏爱 (piān ài) — to be partial toward, to favor

Definition

偏爱 means to consistently favor or have a special preference for one thing over others. Compare 偏向 (a leaning/tendency, often in policy or judgment) and 宠爱 (to pamper/dote on a person).

verb
to be partial towardto favor

Examples

  • 偏爱。
    Tā zǒng shì piān ài chuān hóng sè de yī fu.
    She always favors wearing red clothes.
  • 偏爱。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù piān ài gǔ diǎn yīn yuè.
    He has favored classical music since childhood.
  • 偏爱。
    Lǎo bǎn bú yào tài piān ài mǒu yí wèi yuán gōng.
    The boss should not favor a certain employee too much.

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piānpartial
爱àilove

偏 (partial) and 爱 (love) combine to mean favoring someone or something.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Attitudes & Opinions

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.