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争气 (zhēng qì) — to bring credit to; to live up to expectations; to work hard so as not to let someone down

Definition

争气 means to work hard so as not to let people down — it's about proving yourself to others (family, school), unlike 争取 or 力争, which aim at a specific goal.

verb
to bring credit toto live up to expectationsto work hard so as not to let someone down

Examples

  • 争气，。
    Tā zhè cì bǐ sài hěn zhēng qì, ná le guàn jūn.
    He did well in this competition and won the championship, bringing credit to himself.
  • 。
    Nǐ yí dìng yào wèi zán men xué xiào zhēng yì kǒu qì.
    You must win honor for our school.
  • 争气，。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù hěn zhēng qì, cóng lái méi ràng fù mǔ cāo guò xīn.
    She has always been a credit to her family and never made her parents worry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

争zhēngstrive
气qìhonor

争 shows the effort, while 气 points to the honor or credit that effort aims to win.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爭; 争 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 爭 shows two hands on a plowshare; the simplified 争 is a later abbreviation, so this picture belongs to 爭, not 争.

Open 争 →

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 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Success & Failure

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