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出门 (chū mén) — to go out (of the house); to leave home (for a trip)

Definition

出门 means to go out or leave home, usually for a short outing or daily trip. Compared with 出去, it emphasizes the act of stepping out from home rather than movement away from the current place.

verb
to go out (of the house)to leave home (for a trip)

Examples

  • 出门。
    chū mén Yǐ qián yào dài shǒu jī.
    Take your phone before going out.
  • 出门？
    Nǐ jīn tiān chū mén ma?
    Are you going out today?
  • 。
    Tā zuó tiān chū le yí cì mén.
    He went out once yesterday.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

出chūgo out
门méndoor

出 means go out, and 门 is the door, so it pictures leaving through the door.

Characters in this word

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

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
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