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投票 (tóu piào) — to vote

Definition

投票 is the everyday verb 'to vote' — focuses on the act of casting a ballot. 选举 emphasizes the whole election process, while 表决 is more formal, used in meetings for voting on motions.

verb
to vote
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，投票。
    Míng tiān shì xuǎn jǔ rì, qǐng dà jiā qù tóu piào.
    Tomorrow is election day, please go vote.
  • ？
    Nǐ zhǔn bèi tóu shuí de piào?
    Who are you planning to vote for?
  • 。
    Wǒ tóu le tā yí piào.
    I voted for him / gave him one vote.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

投tóucast
票piàoballot

投 'cast' and 票 'ballot' mean to cast a vote.

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
殳
殳shū投tóu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, and the right part 殳 gives the sound of the character.

Open 投 →

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

  • 火火huǒfire
  • 𢍱𢍱𢍱to rise high

票 combines 火 (fire) and 𢍱 (to rise high), originally representing sparks rising up.

Open 票 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 61000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsRights & Citizenship2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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