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关系 (guān xì) — (noun) relationship, connection; (noun) guanxi, personal networks (social capital); (verb) to concern, to affect, to have to do with

Definition

关系 covers two distinct ideas: the everyday "relationship" (between people, groups, things), and the cultural "guanxi" — personal networks that help get things done. The verb sense "to concern" is fixed in the pattern 关系到.

noun
relationshipconnectionguanxipersonal networks (social capital)
verb
to concernto affectto have to do with
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 关系。
    Tā men liǎng gè rén zhī jiān de guān xì hěn hǎo.
    The relationship between the two of them is very good.
  • 关系，。
    Tā de guān xì hěn duō, néng bāng tā zhǎo dào gōng zuò.
    He has a lot of guanxi, which can help him find a job.
  • 关系。
    Zhè ge wèn tí guān xì dào měi gè rén de lì yì.
    This problem concerns everyone's interests.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

关guānconnection
系xìtie

关 means connection and 系 means tie, so together they name a relationship.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →

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

系 is made by putting together 手 (hand) and 糸 (silk).

Open 系 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsAbstract ConceptsFriends & Social

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