搭车 (dā chē) — to get a ride, to hitchhike (as a passenger); (figurative) to piggyback on, to take advantage of (e.g., an opportunity)

Definition

搭车 is a separable verb: 搭 (hitch / get on) splits from 车 (vehicle) — 'wǒ dā guò tā de chē' means catching a ride. The second sense extends this to 'piggybacking' on a situation or opportunity.

verb
to get a rideto hitchhike (as a passenger)(figurative) to piggyback onto take advantage of (e.g., an opportunity)

Examples

  • 搭车。
    Míng tiān wǒ yào dā chē qù xué xiào.
    I need to get a ride to school tomorrow.
  • 。
    Wǒ dā guò tā de chē qù jī chǎng.
    I caught a ride with him to the airport.
  • 搭车。
    Tā jiè zhè ge jī huì dā chē zuò le hěn duō shì.
    He piggybacked on this opportunity and got a lot done.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

搭dātake/hitch
车chēvehicle

搭 is to take or hitch onto, and 车 is a vehicle; together they picture taking a ride.

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
荅
荅dá搭dā
Same sound today

搭 is built from 扌, a hand, and 荅, which gives the sound. The hand part points to actions done with the hand.

Open 搭 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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