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懂行 (dǒng háng) — to know the ropes; to be an insider in a field; to really understand one's trade

Definition

懂行 means 'to know the trade' — having hands-on, insider expertise in a specific field. Often used as 很懂行 to describe someone experienced, contrasted with 了解 (general understanding) or 熟悉 (familiar).

to know the ropesto be an insider in a fieldto really understand one's trade

Examples

  • 懂行，。
    Tā zài zhè háng hěn dǒng háng, shén me wèn tí dōu nán bù dǎo tā.
    He really knows the ropes in this trade — no problem stumps him.
  • ？。
    Nǐ dǒng shén me xíng? bié luàn zhǐ huī.
    What do you know about the business? Don't give orders blindly.
  • 懂行，。
    Xīn lái de shī fu hěn dǒng háng, nǐ duō xiàng tā qǐng jiào.
    The new master really knows his stuff — ask him a lot.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

懂dǒngunderstand
行xíngtrade

懂 (understand) and 行 (trade) mean knowing the ropes of a field.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
董
董dǒng懂dǒng
Same sound today

懂 is built from 心, the heart, and 董, which gives the sound.

Open 懂 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →
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