TongTong
Sign in

手把手 (shǒu bǎ shǒu) — hand in hand; with step-by-step, hands-on guidance

Definition

A vivid adverb meaning 'hand-in-hand, step by step' — emphasizes the teacher personally guiding the learner through each step, not just giving instructions.

adverb
hand in handwith step-by-stephands-on guidance

Examples

  • 手把手。
    Lǎo shī shǒu bǎ shǒu dì jiào wǒ men xiě hàn zì.
    The teacher taught us how to write characters with step-by-step guidance.
  • 手把手。
    Fù qīn shǒu bǎ shǒu dì jiào tā xiū zì xíng chē.
    His father taught him how to fix a bicycle with hands-on instruction.
  • 手把手。
    Zhè ge chú shī shǒu bǎ shǒu dì zhǐ dǎo tú dì zuò cài.
    The chef guided his apprentice step by step in cooking.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

手shǒuhand
把手hold a hand
把bǎhold手shǒuhand
动宾Verb + object

The 手 and 手 with 把 between them evoke one hand guiding another, giving a close, hands-on sense.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
巴
巴bā把bǎ
Same sound today

把 combines 扌, a hand, with 巴 for its sound.

Open 把 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →
Appears in
Communication & SpeechIdioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.