排队 (pái duì) — to line up, to queue | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

排队 means 'to line up / queue' — use it as a verb phrase about people waiting their turn. Compared with 排 (which can also mean to arrange or to form a row), 排队 specifically refers to people queuing.

verb

to line upto queue

Examples

排队。
Qǐng dà jiā zài zhè lǐ pái duì.
Everyone, please line up here.
。
Wǒ men pái le yí gè xiǎo shí de duì cái mǎi dào piào.
We queued for an hour before we could buy tickets.
排队？
Nǐ pái duì le ma?
Have you queued up?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

排páiarrange

“排” means arranging and “队” a line or group, together describing forming a line.

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.

扌非排

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

非fēi排pái

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

排 uses 扌 (hand) to show arranging something with the hand, and 非 for the sound; this gives the sense of placing things in a line.

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 隊; 队 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

阜阜fù

Sound part声符shēngfú

㒸

㒸㒸隊duì

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 隊 has 阜 as the meaning part and 㒸 as the sound part.

Appears in

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