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恰巧 (qià qiǎo) — by chance, as it happens

Definition

'By chance, as it happens' — an adverb that emphasizes coincidence, used in everyday statements. Pairs naturally with 也 to mean 'also happens to' (e.g. 我恰巧也…).

adverb
by chanceas it happens

Examples

  • 恰巧。
    Wǒ qià qiǎo zài chāo shì yù dào le lǎo tóng xué.
    I happened to meet an old classmate at the supermarket.
  • 恰巧。
    Tā qià qiǎo yě xǐ huan zhè zhǒng yīn yuè.
    He also happens to like this kind of music.
  • 恰巧？
    Nǐ qià qiǎo zhī dào tā de diàn huà ma?
    Do you happen to know his phone number?

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.

恰qiàjust
巧qiǎoby chance

恰 and 巧 together say something is just by chance.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
合
合hé恰qià
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恰 has 忄 (a form of 心) on the left and 合 on the right, which is used for its sound.

Open 恰 →

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
工工gōng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo巧qiǎo
Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Open 巧 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts

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