前排 (qián pái) — front row | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

front row

Measure word · 排

前排，。
Wǒ mǎi le qián pái de zuò wèi, néng kàn dé gèng qīng chǔ.
I bought front row seats, so I can see more clearly.
前排。
Qǐng qián pái de tóng xué xiān bǎ zuò yè jiāo shàng lái.
Students in the front row, please hand in your homework first.
，前排。
Yīn yuè huì kāi shǐ qián, qián pái yǐ jīng zuò mǎn le rén.
Before the concert started, the front row was already full.

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.

前 means front and 排 means row; together they name the row at the front.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

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

扌非排

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

排 uses 扌 (hand) to show arranging something with the hand, and 非 for the sound; this gives the sense of placing things in a line.

Appears in