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决赛 (jué sài) — (noun) finals (of a competition); (verb) to compete in the finals

Definition

决赛 is the final round of a tournament — the last stage after earlier rounds. 比赛 is the whole competition; 大赛 emphasizes a large-scale event, not the final stage.

noun
finals (of a competition)
verb
to compete in the finals
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 决赛。
    Zhè chǎng jué sài de duì shǒu hěn qiáng.
    The opponents in this final are very strong.
  • 决赛。
    Wǒ men duì míng tiān xià wǔ wǒ men duì yào jué sài le.
    Our team is going to compete in the finals this afternoon.
  • 决赛。
    Tā dì yī cì cān jiā quán guó jué sài.
    She is participating in the national finals for the first time.

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.

决juédecide
赛sàimatch

决 means to decide or determine, and 赛 means a match, so the match decides the winner.

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 決; 决 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
夬
夬guài決jué
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 決 has 氵 (water) and 夬, which gives the sound. This describes 決, not the simplified 决.

Open 决 →

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
塞
塞sāi賽sài
Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →
Appears in
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