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亲身 (qīn shēn) — personal, firsthand (done by oneself, in person)

Definition

Adjective for experiences done in person by oneself. Pairs with verbs like 经历, 体验, 感受 to emphasize direct, firsthand involvement — stronger and more experiential than 切身, which focuses on personal relevance/stakes.

adjective
personalfirsthand (done by oneself, in person)

Examples

  • 亲身。
    Wǒ xiǎng qīn shēn qù yí tàng kàn kàn.
    I want to go there myself and see.
  • 亲身。
    Zhǐ yǒu qīn shēn zuò le cái zhī dào bù róng yì.
    Only by doing it yourself do you realize it's not easy.
  • 亲身。
    Nà cì shì gù wǒ qīn shēn kàn dào le.
    I personally saw that accident.

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.

亲qīnpersonal
身shēnbody

亲 expresses personal and 身 expresses body, so together they mean done by oneself.

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.

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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