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推理 (tuī lǐ) — to infer; to deduce

Definition

推理 means 'to deduce' from evidence, broader than 推断's narrower 'predict from data'. Collocates with 小说 (detective fiction) and 能力 (reasoning ability).

verb
to inferto deduce

Examples

  • ，推理？
    Tōng guò yǐ zhī xìn xī, nǐ néng tuī lǐ chū zhēn xiàng ma?
    Can you deduce the truth from the known information?
  • 推理。
    Kē xué jiā cóng zhè xiē shù jù zhōng tuī lǐ chū le yí gè zhòng yào jié lùn.
    Scientists deduced an important conclusion from this data.
  • 推理。
    Zhēn tàn zhèng zài tuī lǐ àn jiàn de guān jiàn.
    The detective is inferring the key of the case.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

推tuīinfer
理lǐprinciple

推 (infer) and 理 (principle) combine to mean reasoning.

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
隹
隹zhuī推tuī
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 is a hand, and the right side 隹 gives the sound; the character shows pushing with the hand.

Open 推 →

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
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Thinking & Cognition

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.