留意 (liú yì) — to pay attention to, to take note of, to be mindful of

Definition

留意 means to notice or keep an eye on something — close in meaning to 注意 but slightly more about quiet, ongoing observation. Often negated or conditional, like 留心.

verb
to pay attention toto take note ofto be mindful of

Examples

  • 留意
    Kāi chē shí yào duō liú yì lù biān de xíng rén.
    When driving, you should pay more attention to pedestrians on the roadside.
  • 留意
    Tā liú yì dào le tā liǎn shàng de biǎo qíng biàn huà.
    He noticed the change in expression on her face.
  • 留意
    Qǐng liú yì zhè ge wèn tí de xì jié.
    Please pay attention to the details of this issue.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

mind

留 'keep' and 意 'mind' combine to mean pay attention.

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
tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
mǎoliú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

Open 留 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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