预想 (yù xiǎng) — to anticipate, to expect | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

to anticipateto expect

Examples

预想。
Wǒ yù xiǎng zhè cì kǎo shì huì hěn nán.
I anticipated that this exam would be very difficult.
预想。
Jié guǒ hé yù xiǎng de yí yàng.
The result was as expected.
预想。
Tā méi yǒu yù xiǎng dào huì fā shēng zhè yàng de shì qing.
He didn't anticipate that such a thing would happen.

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.

预yùbeforehand

预 means beforehand, and 想 means to think, so the idea is thinking about something in advance.

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 預; 预 is its simplified writing.

予頁預

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

予

予yǔ預yù

Same sound today

The traditional form 預 combines 予 for the sound and 頁 for the meaning; the simplified 预 is a later shorthand.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

相心想

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart, mind

Sound part声符shēngfú

相

相xiāng想xiǎng

Same sound today

想 has 心 (heart, mind) below 相 (to look at); the shape shows the mind looking at or considering something, and 相 also gives the sound.

Appears in

Thinking & Cognition

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