口渴 (kǒu kě) — thirsty | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

adjective

thirsty

口渴？？
Nǐ kǒu kě ma? yào bú yào hē shuǐ?
Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?
，口渴。
Zǒu le zhè me jiǔ, wǒ jué de hěn kǒu kě.
Having walked for so long, I feel very thirsty.
口渴，。
Rú guǒ nǐ kǒu kě, bīng xiāng lǐ yǒu guǒ zhī.
If you're thirsty, there's juice in the fridge.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

渴kěthirsty

The feeling is described as 口 'mouth' being 渴 'thirsty'.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

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

氵曷渴

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

曷

曷hé渴kě

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

渴 combines 氵 (water) with 曷 giving the sound. The water part shows dryness or exhaustion of water.

Appears in