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打篮球 (dǎ lán qiú) — play basketball

Definition

verb
play basketball

Examples

  • 打篮球。
    Tā měi tiān xià wǔ dōu qù dǎ lán qiú.
    He goes to play basketball every afternoon.
  • 打篮球？
    Nǐ huì dǎ lán qiú ma?
    Can you play basketball?
  • 打篮球！
    Zhōu mò wǒ men yì qǐ qù dǎ lán qiú ba!
    Let's go play basketball together this weekend!

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

打dǎplay
篮球basketball
篮lánbasket球qiúball
偏正Modifier + head

打 gives the action of playing, and 篮球 names the game, so it means to play basketball.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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 籃; 篮 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
監
監jiān籃lán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 籃 puts 竹 (bamboo) over 監, which gives the sound; the simplified 篮 is a later shorthand.

Open 篮 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú球qiú
Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →
Appears in
HSK 2.0 Level 2

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