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打败 (dǎ bài) — to defeat, to beat (in a competition or battle)

Definition

打败 means 'to defeat, to beat' — focuses on the winner's side of a competition or battle. 失败 is the opposite perspective (to lose), while 战胜 (HSK6) is more formal and often used for overcoming difficulties.

verb
to defeatto beat (in a competition or battle)

Examples

  • 打败。
    Wǒ men dǎ bài nà zhī qiú duì duì wǒ men lái shuō bù nán.
    It's not hard for us to beat that team.
  • ，。
    Tā men zài jué sài zhōng bèi dǎ bài le, dōu hěn nán guò.
    They were defeated in the finals and all felt very sad.
  • 打败。
    Wǒ men yào yì qǐ dǎ bài suǒ yǒu de kùn nan.
    We must defeat all difficulties together.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

打dǎbeat
败bàidefeated

打 is the action of beating, and 败 is the result of losing; together they mean to defeat.

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 敗; 败 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攵Written in full as攴pūstrike
Sound part声符shēngfú
貝
貝bèi敗bài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敗 has 貝 as the sound component and 攴 (written 攵) meaning strike. The simplified 败 is a later abbreviation, so its parts are not the original components.

Open 败 →
Appears in
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