反对党 (fǎn duì dǎng) — opposition party; the opposition

Definition

noun
opposition partythe opposition
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 反对党。
    Zhè ge guó jiā de fǎn duì dǎng zài yì huì zhōng zhàn duō shù xí wèi.
    The opposition party in this country holds a majority of seats in parliament.
  • 反对党。
    fǎn duì dǎng Tí chū le xīn de jīng jì zhèng cè.
    The opposition party proposed a new economic policy.
  • 反对党，。
    Zuò wéi fǎn duì dǎng lǐng xiù, tā jīng cháng pī píng zhèng fǔ.
    As the leader of the opposition party, he often criticizes the government.

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.

反对oppose
反fǎnoppose对duìagainst
联合Side by side
党dǎngparty

反对 means to oppose, and 党 is a party, so the word denotes an opposition party.

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng反fǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

反 uses 又 (hand) for meaning and 厂 for sound. Its original shape showed a hand turning its palm over, giving the sense of return or reverse.

Open 反 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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
儿儿érhuman
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng党dǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

党 pairs 尚, giving its sound, with 儿, a human.

Open 党 →

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