善待 (shàn dāi) — to treat kindly, to treat well

Definition

善待 emphasizes treating someone with genuine goodwill and respect, often as a moral or principled stance. Stronger and more deliberate than 对…好, which is neutral everyday kindness.

verb

to treat kindlyto treat well

Examples

善待。
Wǒ men yīng gāi shàn dāi lǎo rén hé xiǎo hái.
We should treat the elderly and children kindly.
善待。
Tā shì yí wèi shàn dāi yuán gōng de jīng lǐ.
He is a manager who treats his employees well.
，善待。
Wú lùn bié rén zěn me duì nǐ, nǐ dōu yào shàn dāi tā men.
No matter how others treat you, you should treat them kindly.

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.

善shàngood

待dàitreat

善 adds 'good' to 待 'treat', giving the sense of treating kindly.

Characters in this word

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

誩誩jìngto wrangle
羊羊yángsheep

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →

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

彳寺待

Meaning part形符xíngfú

彳彳chì

Sound part声符shēngfú

寺

寺sì待dài

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

待 is built from 彳 on the left and 寺 on the right; 彳 is tied to the meaning, and 寺 gives the sound.

Open 待 →

Appears in