友 (yǒu) — (bound form) friend; friendly; companion

Definition

A bound (combining) form meaning 'friend' or 'friendly' — it never stands alone and almost always appears in compounds like 朋友 or 友谊. Use it to recognize set phrases; the standalone everyday word is 朋友.

bound form

friendfriendlycompanion

Examples

。
Wǒ yǒu hěn duō péng yǒu.
I have many friends.
。
Tā men jiàn lì le shēn hòu de yǒu yì.
They established a deep friendship.
。
Liǎng guó guān xì fēi cháng yǒu hǎo.
The relations between the two countries are very friendly.

Origin

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

又又友

又又yòu
又又yòu

友 is drawn as two 又, the hand form, side by side. The old explanation says two hands together mean friendship.

Appears in

Friends & Social 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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