对话 (duì huà) — to have a conversation, to talk (with someone)

Definition

对话 is a two-way exchange — both speakers take turns. 谈 is more one-sided (you discuss a topic); 谈话 is more formal, often an official talk.

verb

to have a conversationto talk (with someone)

Examples

对话。
Tā men zài duì huà.
They are having a conversation.
对话。
Wǒ hé péng you jīng cháng yòng zhōng wén duì huà.
My friend and I often talk in Chinese.
对话。
Lǎo shī hé xué shēng duì huà.
The teacher and student are talking.

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.

对duìmutual

话huàspeech

The '对' part means mutual or face-to-face and the '话' part means speech; together they denote a conversation between parties.

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.

丵丵zhuótool for digging
土土tǔearth
又又yòuhand

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánword

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑話huà

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

Appears in