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戒烟 (jiè yān) — to quit smoking

Definition

戒烟 is a verb-object phrase meaning 'to quit smoking', built from 戒 ('to give up / abstain from') + 烟 ('tobacco'). It separates in aspect contexts (戒了烟, 戒了好几次烟), as in the examples.

verb
to quit smoking

Examples

  • 戒烟。
    Yī shēng jiàn yì tā jiè yān.
    The doctor advised him to quit smoking.
  • ，。
    Tā yǐ jīng jiè le yān, shēn tǐ hǎo duō le.
    He has quit smoking and is much healthier now.
  • 。
    Tā jiè le hǎo jǐ cì yān dōu méi chéng gōng.
    She tried to quit smoking several times but never succeeded.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

戒jiègive up
烟yāntobacco

The meanings of 戒 (give up) and 烟 (tobacco) combine to express giving up tobacco use.

Characters in this word

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

  • 戈戈gēhalberd
  • 廾廾gǒnghands

戒 shows 廾 (hands) and 戈 (a halberd) together: hands holding up a weapon as a warning.

Open 戒 →

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 煙; 烟 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 烟 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (烟) it is 煙; in others it is 菸.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
垔
垔yīn煙yān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

This story is about the traditional form 煙, not the simplified 烟. It pairs 火, fire, with 垔, which gives the sound.

Open 烟 →
Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 5Alcohol & Tobacco

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