坦承 (tǎn chéng) — to honestly admit, to confess candidly | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

坦承 (tǎnchéng) is a formal verb meaning to candidly admit or confess, used in serious contexts such as press conferences or public statements, stronger in tone than 承认.

verb

to honestly admitto confess candidly

Examples

坦承。
Tā zuì zhōng tǎn chéng le zì jǐ de cuò wù.
He finally honestly admitted his mistake.
坦承。
Gōng sī gāo céng zài jì zhě huì shàng tǎn chéng le jīng yíng kùn nan.
The company's top executives honestly admitted their operational difficulties at the press conference.
坦承。
Tā tǎn chéng zì jǐ duì zhè ge xiàng mù bìng bù wán quán liǎo jiě.
He honestly admitted that he didn't fully understand this project.

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.

坦 means openly, and 承 means admit, together giving 'admit honestly'.

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.

土旦坦

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

旦

旦dàn坦tǎn

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

坦 is made from 土 (earth) plus 旦, which provides the sound. The earth part shows the sense is about ground.

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

卩卩jiékneeling person
廾廾gǒngboth hands

承 combines 卩, a kneeling person, and 廾, both hands, to show holding or carrying.

Appears in

Communication & Speech

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