探望 (tàn wàng) — to visit (someone, especially someone ill or elderly)

Definition

探望 is to visit a person (often sick or elderly), with a caring, deliberate tone — similar to 看望 but slightly more formal, and unlike 参观, it always targets a person, not a place.

verb
to visit (someone, especially someone ill or elderly)

Examples

  • 探望。
    Wǒ míng tiān qù yī yuàn tàn wàng yí wèi lǎo péng you.
    I'm going to the hospital tomorrow to visit an old friend.
  • 探望。
    Měi nián chūn jié wǒ men dōu huì huí lǎo jiā tàn wàng zhǎng bèi.
    Every Spring Festival we go back to our hometown to visit the elders.
  • 探望。
    Tā zhuān chéng cóng běi jīng fēi lái tàn wàng shēng bìng de mǔ qīn.
    She flew all the way from Beijing to visit her sick mother.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

探tànvisit
望wànglook

探 and 望 both involve looking or visiting, so 探望 means to call on someone.

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
𥥍
𥥍𥥍探tàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 探, the 扌 part is a hand, and 𥥍 gives the sound.

Open 探 →

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

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Friends & Social

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