模仿 (mó fǎng) — to imitate, to copy, to mimic | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

模仿 is a general verb for imitating a person's voice, behavior, or style. 效仿 stresses following someone's moral example, and 模拟 usually means simulating conditions or systems rather than a person.

verb

to imitateto copyto mimic

Examples

模仿。
Tā xǐ huan mó fǎng lǎo shī de yǔ qì.
He likes to imitate the teacher's tone of voice.
模仿。
Zhè zhī niǎo huì mó fǎng rén de shēng yīn.
This bird can imitate human sounds.
模仿。
mó fǎng Bié rén de zuò pǐn shì bú duì de.
Imitating others' work is not right.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

模móimitate

仿fǎngimitate

模 and 仿 both mean imitate, so together they denote copying or mimicry.

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.

木莫模

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

莫

莫mò模mó

Same sound today

The left part 木 is tree; the right part 莫 gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Thinking & Cognition 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.