基本功 (jī běn gōng) — basic skills, fundamentals | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

The trained, practiced skills you build up in a craft — e.g. dance, martial arts, music. Unlike 基础 (abstract foundation), 基本功 points to concrete skills you've drilled.

noun

basic skillsfundamentals

Examples

基本功。
Liàn xí jī běn gōng fēi cháng zhòng yào.
Practicing basic skills is very important.
基本功。
Tā de jī běn gōng hěn zhā shi.
His fundamentals are solid.
，基本功。
Yào xiǎng chéng wéi hǎo yǎn yuán, bì xū xiān dǎ hǎo jī běn gōng.
To become a good actor, you must first build a solid foundation of basic skills.

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.

基本basic

基jīfoundation本běnroot

联合Side by side

“基本” (foundation and root) describes the kind of “功” (skill), giving fundamentals.

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.

其土基

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔearth

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí基jī

Same sound today

The lower 土 means earth, and the upper 其 gives the sound; together they form the idea of a foundation of earth.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

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

工力功

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrength

Sound part声符shēngfú

工

工gōng功gōng

Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Abstract Concepts

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