借债 (jiè zhài) — to borrow money, to incur debt

Definition

借债 is a separable verb meaning 'to borrow money' / 'to take on debt', used for both personal and business borrowing. The first half 借 is the borrowing action; 债 is the noun 'debt'.

verb
to borrow moneyto incur debt

Examples

  • 借债。
    Tā bù xiǎng jiè zhài.
    He doesn't want to borrow money.
  • 。
    Tā jiè le yì bǐ zhài lái fù xué fèi.
    He borrowed a sum of money to pay tuition.
  • ，借债。
    Wèi le kuò dà shēng yì, tā zhǐ hǎo zài cì jiè zhài.
    To expand his business, he had to borrow money again.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

借jièborrow
债zhàidebt

借 (borrow) and 债 (debt) combine to mean taking on a debt.

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.

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.

Open 借 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →

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