娶亲 (qǔ qīn) — to take a wife, to get married (for a man)

Definition

A traditional/formal verb meaning for a man to take a wife, almost always used in the past tense (娶了亲) or with 过. Compare 结婚, the everyday modern word for 'to get married' used by anyone.

verb
to take a wifeto get married (for a man)

Examples

  • ，娶亲。
    Tā jīn nián sān shí suì le, hái méi yǒu qǔ qīn.
    He is thirty years old this year and still hasn't married.
  • ，，。
    Tā qù nián lái, qǔ le qīn, xiàn zài yǒu le hái zi.
    He came last year, got married, and now has a child.
  • 。
    Tā zhè yí bèi zi zhī qǔ guò yí cì qīn.
    He only got married once in his whole life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

娶qǔtake a wife
亲qīnbride

娶 is the act of taking a wife, and 亲 names the bride or kin, so the pair means to marry a woman.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ娶qǔ
Same sound today

娶 combines 女 (woman) with 取 (to take); 取 gives the sound, and 女 shows that the word is about taking a woman as a wife.

Open 娶 →

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 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

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