做生日 (zuò shēng rì) — to hold a birthday party (for someone) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

做生日 means 'to hold/throw a birthday party (for someone)' — typically takes 给 + person as the beneficiary. Colloquial, common in spoken Chinese.

verb

to hold a birthday party (for someone)

Examples

做生日。
Wǒ men míng tiān gěi mā ma zuò shēng rì.
We'll hold a birthday party for mom tomorrow.
。
Wǒ men gěi nǎi nai zuò le yí gè shēng rì.
We held a birthday party for grandma.
做生日？
Nǐ dǎ suàn shén me shí hou gěi péng you zuò shēng rì?
When do you plan to hold a birthday party for your friend?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

做zuòdo/hold

生日birthday

生shēngbirth日rìday

偏正Modifier + head

做 means do or hold, and 生日 means birth day, so the sense is holding a birthday celebration.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

屮屮chèbud
一一yīground

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Appears in

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