验血 (yàn xuè) — to have a blood test; blood test

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to do a blood test'. The object (e.g. 血) can split from 验 with aspect markers (验了血, 验过一次血) or move before the verb.

verb

to have a blood testblood test

验血。
Yī shēng ràng wǒ míng tiān lái yàn xuè.
The doctor told me to come for a blood test tomorrow.
，。
Tā jīn tiān zǎo shàng yàn le xuè, jié guǒ xià wǔ cái néng chū lái.
She had her blood drawn this morning; the results won't be out until this afternoon.
？
Nǐ yǐ qián yàn guò yí cì xuè ma?
Have you had a blood test before?

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

验 names examining and 血 names blood, so it means to examine blood.

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 驗; 验 is its simplified writing.

馬僉驗

Meaning part形符xíngfú

馬馬mǎ

Sound part声符shēngfú

僉

僉qiān驗yàn

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

The traditional form 驗 pairs 馬 (horse) with 僉 for sound; the simplified 验 is a later abbreviation.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Appears in