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保管 (bǎo guǎn) — to keep in safekeeping, to take care of; to guarantee, to be certain of (an outcome)

Definition

保管 has two senses: to keep something safe (objects/documents — lighter than the legal/guardian sense of 监护), and to express confidence an outcome will happen (colloquial, weaker than the formal 保证/确保).

verb
to keep in safekeepingto take care ofto guaranteeto be certain of (an outcome)

Examples

  • 保管。
    Qǐng bǎ zhè xiē zhòng yào wén jiàn bǎo guǎn hǎo.
    Please keep these important documents safe.
  • 保管。
    Nǐ bǎo guǎn huì xǐ huan zhè ge dì fāng de.
    I guarantee you'll like this place.
  • 保管。
    Tā bǎo guǎn néng zhǔn shí wán chéng rèn wu.
    I'm sure he can finish the task on time.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

保bǎoprotect
管guǎnmanage

保 means protect, 管 means manage; together they mean to keep and manage safely.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
官
官guān管guǎn
Same sound today

管 has 竹 (bamboo) on top to show it relates to bamboo, and 官 gives its sound.

Open 管 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6

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