剪草机 (jiǎn cǎo jī) — lawn mower

Definition

noun
lawn mower
Measure word · 台

Examples

  • 剪草机。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì tái jiǎn cǎo jī lái zhěng lǐ huā yuán.
    I bought a lawn mower to tidy up the garden.
  • 剪草机。
    Zhè tái jiǎn cǎo jī de dāo piàn xū yào gēng huàn le.
    The blades of this lawn mower need to be replaced.
  • 剪草机。
    Yòng jiǎn cǎo jī zhī qián yào jiǎn chá yí xià yóu xiāng yǒu méi yǒu yóu.
    Before using the lawn mower, check if the gas tank has fuel.

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.

剪草cut grass
剪jiǎncut草cǎograss
动宾Verb + object
机jīmachine

剪草 (cut grass) + 机 (machine) names a lawn mower.

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
刀刀dāoknife
Sound part声符shēngfú
歬
歬qián剪jiǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 剪, 刀 is the knife part and 歬 gives the sound. After 前 came to replace 歬, another 刀 was added to 剪.

Open 剪 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
早
早zǎo草cǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

草 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 早, which gives the sound. The form originally referred to another word and was later used for the grass sense.

Open 草 →

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
木木mùtree; wood
Sound part声符shēngfú
几
几jǐ机jī
Same sound today

The left part is 木 (tree; wood), and the right part 几 gives the sound.

Open 机 →

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