Definition
巧 (qiǎo) has two distinct meanings: 'coincidental' (e.g., 真巧！'What a coincidence!') and 'skillful/clever' (e.g., 巧手 'skillful hands'). For the 'skillful' sense, 熟练 (shú liàn) means 'proficient through practice', while 巧妙 (qiǎo miào) describes an ingenious method or design. For the 'coincidental' sense, 巧合 (qiǎo hé) is the noun form, and 凑巧 (còu qiǎo) is an adjective for a fortuitous event.
adjective
coincidentalby chanceopportuneskillfulcleveringenious
Easily confused
- 亏kuīlook-aliketo lose (money), to suffer a loss
- 瞧qiáosound-alike(colloquial) to look at, to see
- 桥qiáosound-alikebridge
- 敲qiāosound-aliketo knock, to tap, to strike
- 翘qiàosound-aliketo stick up, to tilt upward, to curl up (of an edge, corner, or end)
- 撬qiàosound-aliketo pry open; to lever open
Examples
- 巧，！Zhēn qiǎo, wǒ yě zài zhèlǐ!What a coincidence — I'm here too!
- ，。Tā yǒu yì shuāng qiǎo shǒu, shénme dōu huì zuò.She has skillful hands and can make anything.
- 巧，。Zhège bànfǎ hěn qiǎo, yíxiàzi jiù jiějué le wèntí.This method is very clever — it solved the problem right away.
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