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客观 (kè guān) — objective; impartial

Definition

客观 describes a viewpoint, fact, or judgment that is free of personal bias — the opposite of 主观. It focuses on being unbiased in how one sees things, while 公平 is about being even-handed in treatment of people.

adjective
objectiveimpartial

Examples

  • 客观。
    Tā de kàn fǎ hěn kè guān.
    His opinion is very objective.
  • 客观。
    Jì zhě xū yào kè guān dì bào dào xīn wén.
    Journalists need to report news objectively.
  • 客观。
    Wǒ men yào jī yú kè guān shì shí zuò chū pàn duàn.
    We need to make judgments based on objective facts.

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.

客kèobject
观guānobservation

The object sense of 客 combines with the observation sense of 观 to mean a view independent of the observer.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

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 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn觀guān
Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

Open 观 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Attitudes & Opinions

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