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亲自 (qīn zì) — personally, in person, oneself

Definition

An adverb meaning 'in person, personally' — emphasizes the subject does it themselves rather than sending someone. Pairs with verbs like 参加 or 去, unlike 自己 which is a pronoun.

adverb
personallyin persononeself

Examples

  • 亲自。
    Tā qīn zì cān jiā le zhè cì huì yì.
    He personally attended this meeting.
  • 亲自。
    Lǎo shī qīn zì jiǎn chá le měi gè xué shēng de zuò yè.
    The teacher personally checked each student's homework.
  • 亲自。
    Nǐ yīng gāi qīn zì qù sòng zhè fèn lǐ wù.
    You should go deliver this gift yourself.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

亲qīnpersonally
自zìself

亲 (personally) and 自 (self) together mean doing something in person.

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 親; 亲 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn親qīn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 親 uses 見 (see) for sense and 辛 (a chisel) for sound; the simplified 亲 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 亲 →

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →
Appears in
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