参赛 (cān sài) — to compete, to take part in a competition

Definition

参赛 is 'to take part in a competition' — focus on joining/participating, not the contest itself (比赛). More formal and competition-specific than 竞争 (general rivalry).

verb

to competeto take part in a competition

Examples

参赛。
Wǒ men xué xiào jīn nián yǒu hěn duō tóng xué cān sài.
There are many students from our school competing this year.
参赛？
Nǐ xiǎng cān sài zhè cì bǐ sài ma?
Do you want to compete in this competition?
参赛。
Tā qù nián cān sài dé le dì yī míng.
He competed last year and got first place.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

参cāntake part

赛sàicompetition

“参” means take part, “赛” means competition; together they mean to take part in a competition.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 參; 参 is its simplified writing.

晶晶jīngstars
光光guānglight; brightness
彡彡shānlight rays

For simplified 参, the story belongs to traditional 參, which combines 晶 (stars), 光 (light), and 彡 (rays) to show the Three Stars; one reading takes 光 as a kneeling person looking up.

Open 参 →

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

塞

塞sāi賽sài

Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →

Appears in