承认 (chéng rèn) — to admit, to acknowledge (a mistake, a fact, the truth); to recognize (a country, government, or artistic achievement)

Definition

承认 means 'to admit/acknowledge' a fact or mistake, or 'to recognize' a government diplomatically. It implies conceding something true — stronger than 接受 (accepting an offer); for 'recognize/approve' an achievement, 认可 is more common.

verb
to admitto acknowledge (a mistake, a fact, the truth)to recognize (a country, government, or artistic achievement)

Examples

  • 承认。
    Tā chéng rèn le zì jǐ de cuò wù.
    He admitted his own mistake.
  • 承认。
    Xǔ duō guó jiā chéng rèn le zhè ge xīn zhèng fǔ.
    Many countries recognized this new government.
  • 承认。
    Tā chéng rèn tā bù xǐ huan zhè zhǒng shí wù.
    She acknowledged that she doesn't like this kind of food.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

承chéngaccept
认rènrecognize

承 and 认 both mean accepting and recognizing something, so together they mean to admit or acknowledge.

Characters in this word

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

  • 卩卩jiékneeling person
  • 廾廾gǒngboth hands

承 combines 卩, a kneeling person, and 廾, both hands, to show holding or carrying.

Open 承 →

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
讠Written in full as言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén认rèn
Same sound today

The left part 讠 shows speech, and the right part 人 gives the sound.

Open 认 →
Appears in
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