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烧着 (shāo zhāo) — to catch fire, to be on fire

Definition

Resultative state: something has caught fire and continues to burn (e.g. 房子烧着了 = the house is on fire). 烧 (transitive) is the action of setting fire; 着 marks the resulting state.

verb
to catch fireto be on fire

Examples

  • 烧着。
    Zhè xiē zhǐ hěn róng yì shāo zhāo.
    This kind of paper catches fire very easily.
  • ，。
    Huǒ tài dà le, fáng zi dōu shāo zhe le.
    The fire was too big; the house caught fire.
  • 烧着。
    Shī mù tou hěn nán shāo zhāo.
    Wet wood is hard to set on fire.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

烧shāoburn
着zhecatch

The burning in 烧 combines with the result of catching in 着 to mean start on fire.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 燒; 烧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
堯
堯yáo燒shāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 燒 pairs 火 (fire) with 堯, which supplies the sound; the simplified 烧 is a shorthand.

Open 烧 →

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 著; 着 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě著zháo
Same sound today

The traditional form 著 puts 艸 (grass; plant) above 者, which gives the sound; the simplified 着 is a later shorthand.

Open 着 →
Appears in
Safety & Danger

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