有把握 (yǒu bǎ wò) — (v.o.) to be confident (of success); to be cert…

Definition

Verb-object phrase meaning 'to be confident of success' or 'to have assurance something will work out.' Takes a 把握 object, often with 对…有把握 or 做…有把握.

verb

(v.o.) to be confident (of success)to be certain about something

Examples

有把握。
Wǒ duì zhè cì kǎo shì hěn yǒu yǒu bǎ wò.
I'm very confident about this exam.
有把握？
Tā zuò zhè ge xiàng mù yǒu méi yǒu yǒu bǎ wò?
Does he have confidence in doing this project?
。
Wǒ duì yíng xià zhè chǎng bǐ sài yǒu bǎi fēn zhī jiǔ shí de bǎ wò.
I'm 90 percent confident of winning this game.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

有yǒuhave

把握firm grasp

把bǎhold握wògrip

联合Coordinate

有 (have) a 把握 (firm grasp) means being certain about something.

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

肉肉ròumeat

Sound part声符shēngfú

又

又yòu有yǒu

Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌巴把

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

巴

巴bā把bǎ

Same sound today

把 combines 扌, a hand, with 巴 for its sound.

Open 把 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.