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拿药 (ná yào) — to get medicine (from a pharmacy or hospital)

Definition

A verb-object phrase: 拿 ('to take/get') + 药 ('medicine'), meaning to pick up medicine from a pharmacy or hospital. It uses the verb 拿 in its 'fetch/obtain' sense.

verb
to get medicine (from a pharmacy or hospital)

Examples

  • 拿药。
    Wǒ qù yī yuàn ná yào.
    I'm going to the hospital to get medicine.
  • 。
    Wǒ ná le sān cì yào.
    I picked up medicine three times.
  • 拿药？
    Nǐ ná yào le ma?
    Did you get the medicine?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拿nátake
药yàomedicine

拿 means take or get and 药 means medicine, so it describes getting medicine.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 拿 pairs 合 with 手, and it is a later alternative form for taking with the hand.

Open 拿 →

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 藥; 药 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
樂
樂lè藥yào
Same sound today

In the traditional form 藥, 艹 shows grass and 樂 gives the sound; this story is about 藥, not about the simplified 药.

Open 药 →
Appears in
Medicine & Treatment

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