假话 (jiǎ huà) — lie, falsehood | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A straightforward noun for a 'lie' or 'falsehood' (counted with 句). To accuse someone of lying, pair it with 说 (说假话); for a single lie, use 一句假话.

noun

liefalsehood

Measure word · 句

Examples

假话？
Nǐ wèi shén me yào shuō jiǎ huà?
Why do you want to tell lies?
假话，。
Tā shuō de quán shì jiǎ huà, qiān wàn bú yào xiāng xìn.
Everything he said are lies, absolutely don't believe (him).
假话，。
Yí gè rén cháng shuō jiǎ huà, zuì hòu jiù huì shī qù bié rén de xìn rèn.
A person who often speaks lies will eventually lose others' trust.

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.

假 (“false”) and 话 (“words”) mean false words.

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.

亻叚假

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ假jiǎ

Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánword

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Appears in

Communication & Speech

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.