拍片子 (pāi piān zi) — to have an X-ray taken; to take a medical scan; to shoot a film or TV show

Definition

拍片子 is a separable verb meaning 'to shoot a film' (a director's job) OR 'to get an X-ray / medical scan taken'. The medical sense is colloquial — for formal writing use 拍X光片 or 做检查.

verb
to have an X-ray takento take a medical scanto shoot a film or TV show

Examples

  • 拍片子。
    Yī shēng ràng wǒ qù yī yuàn pāi piān zi.
    The doctor told me to go to the hospital for an X-ray.
  • 拍片子。
    Zhè ge dǎo yǎn zhèng zài pāi piān zi.
    This director is currently shooting a movie.
  • ？
    Nǐ yǐ qián pāi guò piān zi ma?
    Have you ever had an X-ray before?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拍pāitake
片子film or scan
片piànfilm子zǐsuffix
后缀Suffix

拍 means to take, and 片子 means a film or scan; together they describe taking such a film or scan.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái拍pāi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拍 puts 手 (hand) beside 白, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 拍 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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