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自愿 (zì yuàn) — to volunteer, to do something willingly of one's own free will

Definition

自愿 is a verb meaning 'to do something of one's own free will.' Unlike 主动 (a describing an attitude), it focuses on the act itself being unforced and uncompensated.

verb
to volunteer, to do something willingly of one's own free will

Examples

  • 自愿。
    Tā zì yuàn cān jiā le zhè cì jiù yuán xíng dòng.
    He voluntarily participated in this rescue operation.
  • 自愿。
    Tā zì yuàn fàng qì le shēng zhí de jī huì.
    She voluntarily gave up the opportunity for promotion.
  • 自愿。
    Wǒ zì yuàn xuǎn zé le lí kāi gōng sī.
    I voluntarily chose to leave the company.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìself
愿yuànwilling

自 means 'self' and 愿 means 'willing'; together they mean doing something of one's own free will.

Characters in this word

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
原
原yuán愿yuàn
Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Open 愿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Will & Intention5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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