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招标 (zhāo biāo) — to invite bids, to call for tenders

Definition

Business/legal term for a buyer publicly inviting companies to submit competing bids for a project. Compared with 投标 (submitting a bid), 招标 is the buyer's side — issuing the invitation, not responding to one.

verb
to invite bidsto call for tenders

Examples

  • 招标。
    Gōng sī zhèng zài zhāo biāo xīn de xiàng mù.
    The company is inviting bids for a new project.
  • 招标。
    Tā men jué dìng zhāo biāo zhè ge gōng chéng.
    They decided to call for tenders for this project.
  • 。
    Wǒ men gōng sī qù nián zhāo guò liǎng cì biāo.
    Our company called for tenders twice last year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

招zhāoinvite
标biāobid

The idea of 招 (invite) applied to 标 (bids) gives the action of calling for tenders.

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
召
召zhào招zhāo
Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Open 招 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 標; 标 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
票
票piào標biāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 標 pairs 木 with 票, and 票 gives the sound; the simplified 标 is the modern form of that traditional character.

Open 标 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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