一对一 (yī duì yī) — one-to-one; one-on-one

Definition

adjective
one-to-oneone-on-one

Examples

  • 一对一。
    Wǒ men jìn xíng le yí cì yī duì yī de tán huà.
    We had a one-on-one conversation.
  • 一对一。
    Zhè chǎng lán qiú sài biàn chéng le yī duì yī de bǐ pīn.
    This basketball game turned into a one-on-one matchup.
  • 一对一。
    Wǒ bào míng le yí gè yī duì yī de gāng qín kè chéng.
    I signed up for a one-on-one piano course.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

一yīone
对一match one
对duìmatch一yīone
动宾Verb + object

一 means one and 对 means match; one matching one gives the sense of one-to-one.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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