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动词 (dòng cí) — verb (grammatical part of speech)

Definition

A grammatical term for the part-of-speech 'verb' — used when discussing Chinese grammar. Pairs with 名词 (noun), 形容词 (adjective), and 副词 (adverb) as the main word classes.

noun
verb (grammatical part of speech)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 动词，。
    Xué xí dòng cí de shí hou, yào zhù yì tā de yòng fǎ.
    When learning verbs, you must pay attention to their usage.
  • 动词？
    Zhè ge jù zi lǐ de dòng cí shì shén me?
    What is the verb in this sentence?
  • ，动词。
    Zài hàn yǔ zhōng, dòng cí kě yǐ biǎo shì dòng zuò huò zhuàng tài.
    In Chinese, verbs can express actions or states.

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.

动dòngaction
词cíword

动 refers to action, and 词 names a word class.

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 動; 动 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
重
重zhòng動dòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 動 uses 力 (strength) and 重 as a sound part; 重 refers to a heavy bag ready to be moved by a human. This note is about 動, not 动.

Open 动 →

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 詞; 词 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
司
司sī詞cí(r)
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 詞 uses 言, meaning speech, and 司 to show how it was pronounced; the simplified 词 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 词 →
Appears in
Language

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