TongTong
Sign in

玩儿 (wán r) — to play; to have fun; to toy with; to fiddle with; to treat lightly; to trifle with; to resort to (tricks, etc.)

Definition

玩儿 is the everyday spoken form of 玩, used for having fun, playing games, or spending leisure time. In the colloquial pattern 别玩儿我 it means 'don't mess with me'.

verb
to playto have funto toy withto fiddle withto treat lightlyto trifle withto resort to (tricks, etc.)

Examples

  • 玩儿。
    Zhōu mò wǒ men yì qǐ qù gōng yuán wán r ba.
    Let's go to the park and have fun this weekend.
  • 玩儿，。
    Tā xǐ huan wán r gè zhǒng yuè qì, dàn dōu bú tài rèn zhēn.
    He likes to fiddle with all kinds of musical instruments, but he's not very serious about any of them.
  • 玩儿，。
    Bié wán r wǒ, wǒ zhī dào nǐ zài kāi wán xiào.
    Don't mess with me — I know you're joking.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

玩wánplay
儿érr

The action 玩 takes the light 儿 sound, giving a casual sense.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán玩wán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

玩 pairs 玉 (jade) with 元 (yuán) for sound. The jade part points to toys made of jade.

Open 玩 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
Hobbies & Pastimes5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.