悄悄地 (qiāo qiāo de) — quietly, softly, stealthily

Definition

Adverbial form (the 的 here functions as the adverbial suffix, not the adjectival 的). It means doing something in a quiet, unnoticed way — softer than 偷偷地 (sneakily, deliberately hiding one's action).

adjective
quietlysoftlystealthily

Examples

  • 悄悄地。
    Tā qiāo qiāo de zǒu jìn le fáng jiān.
    He quietly walked into the room.
  • 悄悄地。
    Tā qiāo qiāo de gào sù wǒ yí gè mì mì.
    She quietly told me a secret.
  • 悄悄地。
    Xiǎo tōu qiāo qiāo de liū zǒu le.
    The thief stealthily slipped away.

Origin

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xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào悄qiǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

悄 is made from 忄, a form of 心 meaning heart, and 肖, which provides the sound.

Open 悄 →

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xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào悄qiǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

悄 is made from 忄, a form of 心 meaning heart, and 肖, which provides the sound.

Open 悄 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

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