唱歌 (chàng gē) — to sing (a song) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

唱歌 is the everyday verb-object phrase 'to sing (a song)' — used for casual singing, karaoke, performing songs. It splits for aspect/extent (唱了一首歌, 唱得高兴), as the examples show.

verb

to sing (a song)

Examples

唱歌。
Tā xǐ huan zài yù shì lǐ chàng chàng gē.
She likes to sing songs in the bathroom.
。
Zuó wǎn tā chàng le yì shǒu hěn liú xíng de gē.
Last night she sang a very popular song.
唱歌。
Dà jiā chàng chàng gē chàng dé hěn gāo xìng.
Everyone sang and had a great time.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

The action 唱 is directed at 歌, giving sing a song.

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.

口昌唱

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

昌

昌chāng唱chàng

Same sound today

The 口 part points to the mouth, while 昌 shows how the character is pronounced.

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

哥欠歌

Meaning part形符xíngfú

欠欠qiànblow

Sound part声符shēngfú

哥

哥gē歌gē

Same sound today

The shape 歌 uses 哥 for the sound and 欠, meaning blow. It came from a form of 哥 used for singing.

Appears in

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