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撞 (zhuàng) — to bump into, to collide with; to run into (someone by chance)

Definition

撞 (zhuàng) emphasizes impact — physical collision (hitting a wall) or a sudden unexpected meeting. 碰见 and 遇到 are for simply meeting someone by chance; 碰撞 is more formal for objects clashing.

verb
to bump intoto collide withto run into (someone by chance)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 撞。
    Wǒ bù xiǎo xīn zhuàng dào le tā.
    I accidentally bumped into him.
  • 撞。
    Nà liàng chē zhuàng shàng le yì kē dà shù.
    That car ran into a big tree.
  • 撞。
    Wǒ zài jiē shàng zhuàng shàng le yí gè lǎo péng you.
    I ran into an old friend on the street.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

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

The left side 扌 is the hand radical, written in full as 手, and the right side 童 supplies the sound.

Appears in
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