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相符 (xiāng fú) — to conform to, to tally with, to correspond to

Definition

A formal/literary verb meaning two things match or agree with each other. Closer to 符合 (match standards/conditions) than to 一样 (same) — 一样 describes identity, 相符 emphasizes correspondence between two items.

verb
to conform toto tally withto correspond to

Examples

  • 相符。
    Tā de shuō fǎ yǔ shì shí bú xiāng fú.
    His statement does not conform to the facts.
  • 相符。
    Zhè liǎng fèn bào gào de nèi róng wán quán xiāng fú.
    The contents of these two reports are completely consistent.
  • 相符。
    Nǐ de dá àn yǔ biāo zhǔn dá àn xiāng fú.
    Your answer corresponds to the standard answer.

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
符fúmatch

相 means mutual and 符 means match, so the word describes things agreeing with one another.

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
𥫗Written in full as竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
付
付fù符fú
Same sound today

符 puts the bamboo form 竹, written 𥫗 on top, above 付, which gives the sound.

Open 符 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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