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射箭 (shè jiàn) — to shoot arrows; to practice archery

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning 'to shoot arrows' or 'to do archery.' One single activity; the verb 射 alone can also mean 'to shoot,' but here the object 箭 (arrow) is built in — so don't add another arrow object.

verb
to shoot arrowsto practice archery

Examples

  • 射箭。
    Tā xǐ huan shè jiàn.
    He likes archery.
  • ，。
    Tā shè le yí jiàn, méi yǒu shè zhòng.
    He shot an arrow but didn't hit the target.
  • 射箭。
    Zhè ge zhōu mò wǒ men qù shè jiàn ba.
    Let's go do archery this weekend.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

射shèshoot
箭jiànarrow

射 means shoot and 箭 means arrow; together they describe the action of shooting arrows.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 射, the left part comes from 弓 (bow) and 矢 (arrow), and the right part comes from a hand drawing the bowstring.

Open 射 →

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
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
前
前qián箭jiàn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 竹 part points to bamboo, the material of arrows; the 前 part gives the sound.

Open 箭 →
Appears in
Sports & Athletics

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