拖船 (tuō chuán) — tugboat

Definition

noun
tugboat
Measure word · 艘

Examples

  • 拖船。
    Gǎng kǒu lǐ yǒu yì sōu tuō chuán zhèng děng zhe chū fā.
    There is a tugboat in the port waiting to depart.
  • 拖船。
    Nà sōu tuō chuán zhèng zài bǎ huò chuán tuō jìn mǎ tou.
    That tugboat is towing the cargo ship into the dock.
  • 拖船，。
    Méi yǒu tuō chuán de bāng zhù, dà chuán hěn nán kào àn.
    Without the help of a tugboat, large ships have difficulty docking.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

拖tuōtow
船chuánboat

拖 means tow and 船 means boat, so 拖船 is a boat that tows.

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 →

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
舟舟zhōuboat
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣船
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Open 船 →

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