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抱怨 (bào yuàn) — to complain, to grumble

Definition

抱怨 is the everyday verb for 'to complain / grumble' about anything (weather, work, life). Lighter than 投诉 (which is filing a formal complaint as a customer) and more general than 埋怨 (which targets blaming a person).

verb
to complainto grumble

Examples

  • 抱怨。
    Tā zǒng bào yuàn tiān qì bù hǎo.
    He always complains about the bad weather.
  • 抱怨，。
    Bié bào yuàn le, wǒ men kě yǐ huàn yí gè.
    Stop complaining—we can change to another one.
  • 抱怨。
    Tā cóng bú bào yuàn gōng zuò xīn kǔ.
    She never complains about hard work.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

抱bàoharbor
怨yuànresentment

抱 “harbor” and 怨 “resentment”: harboring resentment about something.

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
包
包bāo抱
Same sound today

抱 pairs 扌 (hand) with 包; the hand part shows holding, while 包 supplies the sound and the sense of wrapping.

Open 抱 →

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
夗
夗wǎn怨yuàn
Same sound today

怨 has 心 (heart) below and 夗 above as a sound part; the heart part shows the meaning concerns feelings.

Open 怨 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & SpeechEmotions & Feelings3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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