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借 (jiè) — to borrow; to lend; to take advantage of (an opportunity)

Definition

借 covers both 'borrow' and 'lend' — direction comes from context (我借你的笔 = I borrow your pen; 借给我 = lend me). For 'take advantage of an opportunity,' 趁 (chèn) is the everyday preposition ('while X is available'), while 借 is more literary.

verb
to borrowto lendto take advantage of (an opportunity)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 借？
    Wǒ kě yǐ jiè nǐ de bǐ ma?
    Can I borrow your pen?
  • 借。
    Tā jiè gěi wǒ shí kuài qián.
    He lent me ten yuan.
  • 借，。
    jiè Zhè ge jī huì, wǒ xiǎng shuō xiè xie.
    Taking this opportunity, I want to say thank you.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
昔
昔xī借jiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

借 combines 人, a person, with 昔, which shows the sound.

Grammar

Appears in
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