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搬家 (bān jiā) — to move (house), to relocate

Definition

搬家 is a verb-object phrase meaning 'to move house' (split as 搬…家, e.g. 搬了两次家). 搬 alone means moving a heavy object; 搬迁 is the formal written equivalent.

verb
to move (house)to relocate

Examples

  • 搬家。
    Wǒ xià ge yuè yào bān jiā dào xīn gōng yù.
    I'm going to move to a new apartment next month.
  • 搬家。
    Wǒ men qù nián bān jiā de shí hou hěn lèi.
    We were very tired when we moved last year.
  • ，。
    Wǒ men bān le yí cì jiā, dàn shì bú lèi.
    We moved once, but we weren't tired.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

搬bānmove
家jiāhome

The first part means move, and the second means home; together they describe taking one's household to a new place.

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
般
般bān搬bān
Same sound today

The left side 扌 is a hand, showing a hand-related action, while 般 gives the sound bān.

Open 搬 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Daily RoutineHome & Housing5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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