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拖延 (tuō yán) — to delay, to put off, to procrastinate

Definition

拖延 highlights the person: stalling or procrastinating on purpose, often a habit. 推迟 and 延期 are more neutral events (a meeting is postponed), while 耽误 means the delay causes real harm or lost time.

verb
to delayto put offto procrastinate

Examples

  • 拖延，。
    Bié zài tuō yán le, kuài kāi shǐ ba.
    Don't delay anymore, start quickly.
  • 拖延，。
    Tā zǒng shì xǐ huan tuō yán, suǒ yǐ gōng zuò jīng cháng zuò bù wán.
    He always likes to procrastinate, so he often can't finish his work.
  • 拖延。
    tuō yán Zhī huì ràng wèn tí biàn de gèng yán zhòng.
    Procrastination only makes the problem become more serious.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

拖tuōdrag
延yánprolong

拖 and 延 both suggest dragging or prolonging time, so the word means to delay.

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
它
它tā拖tuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拖 uses 手 to show an action done with the hand, and 它 to give its sound.

Open 拖 →

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

The shape of 延 adds a top stroke to a form showing 彳 (walking) and 止 (foot), originally meaning to travel far, to show prolonging.

Open 延 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Time (Abstract)

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