凑巧 (còu qiǎo) — coincidental, fortuitous, happening by chance | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Còuqiǎo means 'coincidentally, as luck has it' — close in meaning to 巧合 and 巧, but it typically appears before a clause as an adverbial framing a chance event.

adjective

coincidentalfortuitoushappening by chance

Examples

凑巧，！
Zhēn shì tài còu qiǎo le, wǒ men jū rán zuò tóng yī bān fēi jī!
What a coincidence — we're actually on the same flight!
凑巧，。
còu qiǎo Wǒ nà tiān yě zài shū diàn, jiù yù dào le tā.
Coincidentally, I was at the bookstore that day too, and I ran into him.
凑巧，。
Shì qing méi yǒu nà me còu qiǎo, tā shì gù yì lái zhǎo nǐ de.
It wasn't that coincidental — he came looking for you on purpose.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

巧qiǎocoincidental

“凑” meet and “巧” coincidental combine to mean happen to meet 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 湊; 凑 is its simplified writing.

氵奏湊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

奏

奏zòu湊còu

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

The traditional form 湊 uses 氵 (water) as the meaning element and 奏 as the sound element. The simplified 凑 is a later shorthand.

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

工丂巧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Abstract Concepts

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