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攻势 (gōng shì) — offensive; attack (esp. military or in sports)

Definition

攻势 (gōngshì) is a noun for a sustained 'offensive' or 'attack,' used in military and sports contexts to name the campaign itself rather than a single act. Unlike 攻击 or 袭击 (verbs meaning a specific strike), 攻势 describes the overall push or strategy.

noun
offensiveattack (esp. military or in sports)
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 攻势。
    Wǒ jūn fā qǐ le quán miàn gōng shì.
    Our army launched an all-out offensive.
  • 攻势。
    Zhè zhī qiú duì de gōng shì fēi cháng xī lì.
    This team's offense is very sharp.
  • 攻势。
    Tā men zhèng zài tiáo zhěng gōng shì cè lüè yǐ yìng duì jìng zhēng.
    They are adjusting their offensive strategy to cope with competition.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

攻gōngattack
势shìmomentum

攻 describes the 势, an attacking momentum.

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand holding a tool or weapon
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng攻gōng
Same sound today

攻 puts 工, which gives the pronunciation, beside 攵, a hand holding a tool or weapon.

Open 攻 →

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 勢; 势 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìpower
Sound part声符shēngfú
埶
埶yì勢shì
Same sound today

The traditional form 勢 combines 力, meaning power, with 埶 for the sound. The simplified 势 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 势 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Military & Defense

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