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应得 (yīng dé) — to deserve, to be due; to merit

Definition

应得 (yīng dé) means 'to deserve' — used as a modifier meaning 'deserved' (e.g. 应得的惩罚 'deserved punishment'). Stronger and more formal than 值得, which means 'worth' (e.g. 值得一看 'worth seeing').

verb
to deserveto be dueto merit

Examples

  • 应得。
    Tā yīn wèi nǔ lì gōng zuò dé dào le yīng dé de jiǎng jīn.
    He got the bonus he deserved for working hard.
  • 应得。
    Zuò le cuò shì jiù yào jiē shòu yīng dé de chéng fá.
    If you do something wrong, you must accept the punishment you deserve.
  • 应得。
    Zhè fèn róng yù shì tā duō nián nǔ lì yīng dé de.
    This honor is what he deserves for many years of hard work.

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.

应yìngshould
得déobtain

“应” means should, and “得” means obtain, so the word describes what one should obtain.

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 應; 应 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
䧹
䧹䧹應yìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 應 pairs 心 (heart) with 䧹 as a sound part; the simplified 应 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the original components.

Open 应 →

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

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →
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