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对不住 (duì bù zhù) — to let (someone) down; to be unfair to (someone)

Definition

A colloquial way to say 'I'm sorry' or 'I've let you down,' stronger than 对不起 in feeling guilty. Often used to apologize for failing or being unfair to someone close.

verb
to let (someone) downto be unfair to (someone)

Examples

  • 对不住。
    Wǒ zhè cì zhēn de duì bù zhù nǐ le.
    I really let you down this time.
  • 对不住，。
    duì bù zhù, Shì wǒ kǎo lǜ bù zhōu.
    Sorry, I didn't think it through.
  • 对不住。
    Tā jué de zì jǐ duì bù zhù jiā rén.
    He feels he has let his family down.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

对duìtoward; treat
不住not up to
不bùnot住zhùup to
偏正Modifier + head

对不住 is an idiomatic way to say one has let someone down or been unfair; the fixed wording carries this sense.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ住zhù
Same sound today

住 pairs 亻, the person radical (written fully as 人), with 主, which supplies the sound.

Open 住 →
Appears in
Greetings & Politeness

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