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趁机 (chèn jī) — opportunistically; taking advantage of a situation

Definition

趁机 means 'to take advantage of an opportunity' (often with a slightly negative sense of seizing a moment for personal gain). 顺势 is a neutral, smoother 'go with the flow'; 趁早 stresses acting early before it's too late.

adverb
opportunisticallytaking advantage of a situation

Examples

  • 趁机。
    Tā chèn jī zhuā zhù le zhè ge jī huì.
    He seized this opportunity.
  • 趁机。
    Dí rén chèn jī fā dòng le gōng jī.
    The enemy launched an attack opportunistically.
  • 趁机。
    Tā chèn jī xiàng lǎo bǎn tí chū le qǐng qiú.
    She took the opportunity to make a request to the boss.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

趁chèntake advantage of
机jīopportunity

趁 (take advantage of) points to 机 (opportunity), giving the sense of acting while a chance exists.

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
走走zǒuto run
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐱
㐱㐱趁chèn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

趁 is built from 走, 'to run', and 㐱, which gives the sound.

Open 趁 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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