凝神 (níng shén) — with concentrated attention, intently, with focused mind

Definition

A formal adverb meaning 'with intense focus' — modifies mental actions like 听, 看, 思考. Stronger and more literary than 专心, more outward-facing than 静心.

adverb
with concentrated attentionintentlywith focused mind

Examples

  • ，凝神。
    Tā zuò zài chuāng qián, níng shén sī kǎo wèn tí.
    He sat by the window, thinking intently about the problem.
  • 凝神。
    Xué shēng men níng shén tīng lǎo shī jiǎng kè.
    The students listened intently to the teacher's lecture.
  • 凝神，。
    Tā níng shén kàn zhe nà fú huà, yì yán bù fā.
    She stared at the painting with focused attention, not saying a word.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

凝níngconcentrate
神shénspirit

To “concentrate” the “spirit” gives focused attention.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
疑
疑yí凝níng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

凝 pairs 冫 (ice, also written 仌) with 疑, which gives the sound.

Open 凝 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shìgod; deity
Sound part声符shēngfú
申
申shēn神shén
Same sound today

The older form 申 drew lightning, which the ancients regarded as divine; 神 adds 示 (god/deity) to mark that meaning.

Open 神 →

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