报恩 (bào ēn) — to repay a kindness, to show gratitude for a favor received

Definition

Literary/idiomatic verb meaning 'to repay a kindness received.' Fixed collocation — usually appears in set phrases like 报恩 or 滴水之恩当涌泉相报, not in everyday speech.

verb
to repay a kindness, to show gratitude for a favor received

Examples

  • ，报恩。
    Tā duì wǒ shuō guò, yí dìng yào bào ēn.
    He told me that he must repay the kindness.
  • ，？
    Nǐ bāng le wǒ zhè me duō, wǒ zěn me cái néng bào dé le zhè ge ēn ne?
    You've helped me so much — how can I ever repay this kindness?
  • ，报恩。
    Gǔ rén cháng shuō, dī shuǐ zhī ēn dāng yǒng quán bào ēn.
    The ancients often said that a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

报bàorepay
恩ēnkindness

报 means repay and 恩 is kindness; together they mean to repay a favor.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 報; 报 is its simplified writing.

  • 㚔㚔㚔handcuffs
  • 𠬝𠬝𠬝to subdue

The traditional form 報 puts 㚔 (handcuffs) beside 𠬝 (to subdue), showing someone restrained and subdued, as in convicting or punishing a guilty person. The simplified 报 is a later shorthand.

Open 报 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
因
因yīn恩ēn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

恩 puts 因, which gives the sound, beside 心, a heart.

Open 恩 →

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