语法 (yǔ fǎ) — grammar | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

grammar

Examples

语法？
Nǐ yǔ fǎ xué dé zěn me yàng?
How are you doing with your grammar study?
语法。
Hàn yǔ yǔ fǎ hé yīng yǔ chā bié hěn dà.
Chinese grammar and English grammar are very different.
语法。
Lǎo shī gěi wǒ men jiǎng le hěn duō yǔ fǎ zhī shi.
The teacher taught us a lot of grammar knowledge.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

语yǔlanguage

语 (language) names the field of 法 (rules), giving grammar.

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 語; 语 is its simplified writing.

言吾語

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

吾

吾wú語yǔ

Same sound today

The form 語 pairs 言 (speech) with 吾, which gives the sound; this note is about 語, not 语.

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

廌廌zhìa type of antelope or caprid

Sound part声符shēngfú

盍

盍hé法fǎ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

法's older form combined 氵 (water) and 廌 (a type of antelope or caprid), with 盍 as a sound part; later 廌 was dropped.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 4 HSK 2.0 Level 4 Language

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