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接球 (jiē qiú) — to catch a ball (in sports); to return a served ball (in tennis, volleyball, etc.)

Definition

A separable verb used in ball sports meaning 'to catch' a thrown ball or 'to return' a served one (tennis, volleyball). Split it for aspect/result complements: 接得住, 接得很好.

verb
to catch a ball (in sports)to return a served ball (in tennis, volleyball, etc.)

Examples

  • 接球。
    Tā jiē qiú jiē dé hěn wěn.
    He catches the ball very steadily.
  • ，。
    Zhè ge qiú tài nán le, wǒ jiē bú zhù.
    This ball is too hard — I can't catch it.
  • ，。
    Tā jiē le yí gè piào liang de qiú, yíng dé le bǐ sài.
    He caught a beautiful ball and won the match.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

接jiēcatch
球qiúball

接 means to catch or receive, and 球 is the ball acted on.

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
妾
妾qiè接jiē
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 shows a hand, matching the sense of receiving something in the hand, while 妾 gives the character its sound.

Open 接 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú球qiú
Same sound today

球 is built from 玉, meaning jade, and 求, which gives the sound.

Open 球 →
Appears in
Ball GamesSports & Athletics

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