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劝阻 (quàn zǔ) — to advise against, to dissuade

Definition

劝阻 means 'to advise against / dissuade someone from doing something' — focus is on stopping an action. Unlike 劝 (to urge/encourage toward) and 劝说 (to persuade more generally), 劝阻 has a negative-direction aim.

verb
to advise againstto dissuade

Examples

  • 劝阻。
    Yī shēng quàn zǔ tā bú yào xī yān.
    The doctor advised him not to smoke.
  • 劝阻。
    Péng you duō cì quàn zǔ tā fàng qì zhè ge jì huà.
    Friends repeatedly advised her to give up this plan.
  • 劝阻，。
    Wǒ quàn zǔ nǐ, zhè yàng tài wēi xiǎn le.
    I advise you against it — this is too dangerous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

劝quànadvise
阻zǔstop

“劝” means urging, and “阻” means stopping, so the word describes persuading someone to stop.

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 勸; 劝 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
雚
雚guàn勸quàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 勸 pairs 力 (strength) with 雚 as a sound part; the simplified 劝 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 劝 →

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
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě阻zǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

阻 is built from 阝 (written in full as 阜) on the left and 且 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 阻 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & Speech

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.