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广告 (guǎng gào) — advertisement, commercial, ad

Definition

广告 is the noun for an ad, commercial, or announcement (项). It is the THING you see — not 宣扬 (verb, to publicize/promote widely) or 张贴 (verb, to physically post a notice).

noun
advertisementcommercialad
Measure word · 项

Examples

  • 广告。
    Wǒ zài wǎng shàng kàn dào le yí gè guǎng gào.
    I saw an ad online.
  • 广告。
    Zhè fèn gōng zuò shì wǒ zài guǎng gào shàng zhǎo dào de.
    I found this job through an ad.
  • 广告。
    Hěn duō rén dōu tǎo yàn diàn shì shàng de guǎng gào.
    Many people dislike advertisements on TV.

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.

广guǎngwide
告gàoannounce

'广' (wide) and '告' (announce) suggest telling many people about something.

Characters in this word

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 廣; 广 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng廣guǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廣 combines 广 (meaning part) with 黃 (sound part); the simplified 广 is a later shorthand, not the full historical shape.

Open 广 →

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

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Marketing & Sales2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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