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复述 (fù shù) — to retell, to recount (a story, event, or information) in one's own words

Definition

复述 means to retell or recount in your own words, not just parrot back verbatim. It's the formal/structured term used in exams and meetings, stronger than the everyday 说 'say'.

verb
to retellto recount (a story, event, or information) in one's own words

Examples

  • 复述。
    Qǐng fù shù yí xià wǒ gāng cái shuō de huà.
    Please repeat what I just said.
  • 复述。
    Tā fù shù le huì yì de zhǔ yào nèi róng.
    He recounted the main content of the meeting.
  • 复述？
    Nǐ néng fù shù yí biàn zhè ge xiào hua ma?
    Can you retell this joke?

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.

复fùagain
述shùtell

复 means again and 述 means tell, so to tell something again.

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 復; 复 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 复 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (复习, 恢复) it is 復; in others (复印, 复杂) (答复, 反复) it is 複 or 覆.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彳彳chìwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù復fù
Same sound today

The traditional form 復 combines 彳, a walking part, with 复, a sound part, to show walking back and forth.

Open 复 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
朮
朮zhú述shù
Same sound today

述 combines 辵, a walking radical, with 朮, which gives the sound; the walking part belongs to the meaning.

Open 述 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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