撒谎 (sā huǎng) — to tell a lie, to lie | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

撒谎 (sā huǎng) means 'to lie' — equivalent to 说谎 in meaning. Unlike 说谎, which is slightly more formal, 撒谎 is the everyday spoken choice; 谎言 and 谎话 are the nouns for 'a lie'.

verb

to tell a lieto lie

Examples

撒谎。
Tā jīng cháng duì fù mǔ sā huǎng.
He often lies to his parents.
，。
Tā sā le yí gè huǎng, shuō zì jǐ méi qù guò nà lǐ.
He told a lie, saying he had never been there.
撒谎，。
Bié zài sā huǎng le, wǒ men dōu zhī dào le zhēn xiàng.
Stop lying — we already know the truth.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

撒sāspread or tell

撒 means to spread or tell, and 谎 means lie, so 撒谎 is to tell lies.

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.

扌散撒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

散

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

撒 combines 扌 (hand) with 散, which gives the sound; the hand part shows scattering with the hand.

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 謊; 谎 is its simplified writing.

言荒謊

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

荒

荒huāng謊huǎng

Same sound today

The traditional form 謊 pairs 言 (speech) with 荒, which shows how it was pronounced; the simplified 谎 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Communication & Speech 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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