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煮饭 (zhǔ fàn) — to cook rice; to cook a meal (general)

Definition

A verb-object phrase: 煮 (boil/cook) + 饭 (rice/meal). Note that 饭 here means the whole meal, not just rice — 煮饭 can mean cooking rice specifically or cooking a meal in general.

verb
to cook riceto cook a meal (general)

Examples

  • 煮饭。
    Wǒ měi tiān dōu yào zhǔ fàn.
    I have to cook rice every day.
  • 。
    Tā zhǔ le yí gè xiǎo shí de fàn.
    She cooked rice for an hour.
  • 煮饭？
    Nǐ huì zhǔ fàn ma?
    Can you cook rice?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

煮zhǔcook
饭fànrice

煮 and 饭 combine: cooking rice gives the sense of preparing a meal.

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
灬Written in full as火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě煮zhǔ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煮 pairs 者, which gives the sound, with 灬, a form of 火 (fire), to show cooking over a fire.

Open 煮 →

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 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shífood
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn飯fàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

Open 饭 →
Appears in
Cooking

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