救人 (jiù rén) — to rescue someone, to save someone's life | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

救人 means 'to rescue / save someone's life' — focus on saving a person in danger (from fire, drowning, etc.). A separable verb: 救…人 / 救了一个人.

verb

to rescue someoneto save someone's life

Examples

救人。
Xiāo fáng yuán zhèng zài jiù rén.
The firefighters are rescuing someone.
。
Tā zuó tiān cóng hé lǐ jiù le yí gè rén.
He rescued a person from the river yesterday.
救人。
Yī shēng zuì dà de zé rèn jiù shì jiù rén.
A doctor's greatest responsibility is to save lives.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

“救” means save and “人” means person, together to rescue someone.

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú救jiù

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

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Appears in

Safety & Danger

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