扮成 (bàn chéng) — to dress up as, to play the role of, to disguise oneself as

Definition

扮成 means to disguise yourself as or play the role of a specific person or character — focus is on the outward appearance or persona you adopt, not on acting skill (unlike 演 yǎn).

verb
to dress up asto play the role ofto disguise oneself as
Easily confused

Examples

  • 扮成。
    Tā bàn chéng shèng dàn lǎo rén gěi hái zi men fā lǐ wù.
    He dressed up as Santa Claus to give gifts to the children.
  • ，扮成。
    Zài zhè bù diàn yǐng lǐ, tā bàn chéng yí gè nǚ xiá.
    In this movie, she plays the role of a female warrior.
  • 扮成。
    Tā bàn chéng bǎo ān hùn jìn le dà lóu.
    He disguised himself as a security guard to sneak into the building.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

扮bàndress up
成chéngbecome

扮 means to dress up or play a role and 成 means to become, so the parts build the sense of becoming a disguise.

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shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn扮bàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扮 pairs 扌 (hand, written in full as 手) with 分, which gives its sound.

Open 扮 →

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
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

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