巴不得 (bā bu dé) — to be eager for; to long for; can't wait to | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A colloquial 'can't wait / be dying to' about something the speaker hopes happens soon. Closer in feel to 恨不得 than to 想念 or 渴望, which are more about missing or earnestly longing.

verb

to be eager forto long forcan't wait to

Examples

巴不得。
Wǒ bā bu dé míng tiān jiù fàng jià.
I can't wait for the holiday to start tomorrow.
巴不得。
Tā bā bu dé mǎ shàng huí jiā jiàn fù mǔ.
He is eager to go home and see his parents right away.
巴不得。
Tā bā bu dé kǎo shì kuài diǎn jié shù.
She longs for the exam to end quickly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

巴bālong for

不得cannot

不bùnot得déable

偏正Modifier + head

巴 means to long for and 不得 means cannot, so the whole expresses eager longing.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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.

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

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Emotions & Feelings Will & Intention

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