要账 (yào zhàng) — to demand repayment, to collect a debt

Definition

要账 is a separable verb meaning 'to collect a debt / demand repayment' — the 账 can be separated and shifted, as in 要了三次账. The first example uses it as a noun phrase (the job of debt collection).

verb
to demand repaymentto collect a debt

Examples

  • 要账。
    Tā zài gōng sī lǐ zhǔ yào fù zé yào zhàng.
    He is mainly responsible for collecting debts at the company.
  • ，。
    Tā shàng ge yuè yào le sān cì zhàng, dōu méi chéng gōng.
    He demanded repayment three times last month, but none succeeded.
  • ，要账。
    Zhè zhǒng lài zhàng de kè hù, yào zhàng hěn nán.
    For customers who default like this, collecting debts is very difficult.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

要yàodemand
账zhàngdebt

要 'demand' and 账 'debt' combine to mean demanding repayment.

Characters in this word

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

要 began as a drawing of a person with both hands pointing to the waist.

Open 要 →

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 賬; 账 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
長
長cháng賬
Same sound today

In the traditional form 賬, 貝 is a shell and 長 is used for the sound; the simplified 账 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 账 →

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