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打比方 (dǎ bǐ fang) — to draw an analogy, to use a metaphor

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to draw an analogy' — saying 打比方 to introduce a comparison that explains an abstract idea. It is more everyday than the formal 比喻.

verb
to draw an analogyto use a metaphor

Examples

  • 打比方，。
    Wǒ dǎ gè dǎ bǐ fang, rén shēng jiù xiàng yì chǎng lǚ xíng.
    Let me draw an analogy: life is like a journey.
  • 打比方。
    Tā xǐ huan yòng dǎ bǐ fang lái shuō míng fù zá de dào lǐ.
    He likes to use analogies to explain complex principles.
  • 打比方，。
    Zhè ge dǎ bǐ fang hěn qià dàng, dà jiā yí xià jiù míng bai le.
    This analogy is very apt; everyone understood it right away.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

打dǎmake
比方comparison method
比bǐcompare方fāngmethod
偏正Modifier + head

The doing action combines with 比方, meaning analogy, to express drawing a comparison.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →
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