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勉强 (miǎn qiǎng) — (adjective) reluctant, grudging; barely enough, just so-so; (verb) to force (someone to do something); to manage to do with difficulty

Definition

Covers two ideas: as an adjective it means 'reluctant' (a 勉强 smile) or 'barely enough' (passing just barely); as a verb it means 'to force someone to do something.' Negate as 不/别勉强, not 免强.

adjective
reluctantgrudgingbarely enoughjust so-so
verb
to force (someone to do something)to manage to do with difficulty

Examples

  • 勉强。
    Bié miǎn qiǎng tā zuò tā bù xǐ huan de shì.
    Don't force him to do things he doesn't like.
  • 勉强。
    Tā lù chū le yí gè miǎn qiǎng de xiào róng.
    He gave a reluctant smile.
  • 勉强。
    Zhè cì kǎo shì wǒ miǎn qiǎng jí gé le.
    I just barely passed this exam.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

勉miǎnforce
强qiángforce

“勉” means force or endeavor, “强” here means force; together they mean doing something with difficulty or reluctance.

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
力力lìstrong
Sound part声符shēngfú
免
免miǎn勉miǎn
Same sound today

勉 puts 力, meaning strong, beside 免, which gives the sound. The shape shows making a strong effort.

Open 勉 →

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 強; 强 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 強 pairs an insect component with a sound component; this explains 強, not the simplified 强.

Open 强 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Attitudes & Opinions

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