口试 (kǒu shì) — oral examination; oral test; to give or take an… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

oral examinationoral testto give or take an oral exam

Measure word · 个

Examples

口试。
Míng tiān wǒ yào cān jiā kǒu shì.
I have to take an oral exam tomorrow.
口试。
Lǎo shī zhèng zài kǒu shì xué shēng.
The teacher is giving oral exams to the students.
口试。
kǒu shì De chéng jì zhàn zǒng fēn de bǎi fēn zhī sān shí.
The oral exam score accounts for 30% of the total grade.

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.

口kǒumouth/oral

口 means mouth or oral and 试 means test, so 口试 denotes an examination conducted by mouth.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

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 試; 试 is its simplified writing.

言式試

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

式

式shì試shì

Same sound today

The traditional form 試 puts 言 beside 式, and 式 gives the sound; the simplified 试 is the form of this character.

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