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凑合 (còu he) — to make do; to get by with whatever is available; to improvise or piece together (often out of necessity); (in evaluation) passable; just okay; not terrible

Definition

凑合 means 'make do / get by' with what's available, often reluctantly. Like 对付 it implies coping with less-than-ideal conditions, but 凑合 emphasizes assembling or accepting what you have, not tackling a problem.

verb
to make doto get by with whatever is availableto improvise or piece together (often out of necessity)(in evaluation) passablejust okaynot terrible

Examples

  • ，凑合。
    Suī rán cái liào bú gòu, dàn wǒ men xiān còu he zhe zuò ba.
    Although we don't have enough materials, let's just make do and start working.
  • 凑合，。
    Zhè dùn fàn shì tā suí biàn còu he chū lái de, wèi dào yì bān.
    This meal was just improvised by him, and the taste is mediocre.
  • 凑合，。
    Nǐ de huí dá hái suàn còu he, dàn xū yào zài xiáng xì yì xiē.
    Your answer is passable, but it needs to be a bit more detailed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

凑còugather
合héjoin

“凑” gather and “合” join combine to describe putting things together to make do.

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 湊; 凑 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
奏
奏zòu湊còu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 湊 uses 氵 (water) as the meaning element and 奏 as the sound element. The simplified 凑 is a later shorthand.

Open 凑 →

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

合 shows 亼 and 口 arranged as two mouths speaking together.

Open 合 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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