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相信 (xiāng xìn) — to believe, to have faith in

Definition

相信 is everyday 'to believe' — a fact, a person, or yourself. It feels more personal than the more formal 认为, which is used for considered opinions or judgments about situations.

verb
to believeto have faith in

Examples

  • 相信。
    Wǒ xiāng xìn wǒ néng xué hǎo hàn yǔ.
    I believe I can learn Chinese well.
  • 相信。
    Wǒ bù xiāng xìn tā huì chéng gōng.
    I don't believe he will succeed.
  • 相信。
    Nǐ yīng gāi xiāng xìn nǐ zì jǐ.
    You should believe in yourself.

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.

相xiāngmutual
信xìntrust

相信 joins 相 (mutual) with 信 (trust) to mean believing in someone or something.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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
言言yánwords
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén信xìn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

信 pairs 人 as the sound part with 言 (words) as the meaning part.

Open 信 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsThinking & Cognition2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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