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焚烧 (fén shāo) — to burn, to set on fire

Definition

焚烧 (fénshāo) means to deliberately burn something up — a more formal, written verb than 烧, often used for burning waste or objects. Pairs with items being destroyed (垃圾、旧家具), unlike 点燃 which is 'ignite / light'.

verb
to burnto set on fire

Examples

  • 焚烧。
    Tā men fén shāo le jiù jiā jù.
    They burned the old furniture.
  • 焚烧。
    Jìn zhǐ zài sēn lín lǐ fén shāo zá wù.
    It is forbidden to burn debris in the forest.
  • 焚烧。
    Zhè ge gōng chǎng měi tiān fén shāo dà liàng lā jī.
    This factory burns a large amount of garbage every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

焚fénburn
烧shāoburn

焚 and 烧 both mean to burn, reinforcing the idea of setting fire.

Characters in this word

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

焚 combines 林 (trees) and 火 (fire) to show trees burning.

Open 焚 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Safety & Danger

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