补牙 (bǔ yá) — to fill a tooth (dental filling)

Definition

Means 'to fill a tooth' (the dental procedure). 牙 is a separable object here — you can say 补过牙 'had a filling before' rather than only 补牙.

verb
to fill a tooth (dental filling)

Examples

  • 补牙。
    Wǒ xià zhōu yào qù bǔ yá.
    I need to go get a filling next week.
  • 。
    Tā qù nián bǔ guò liǎng cì yá.
    He had two fillings last year.
  • 补牙。
    Zhè kē yá xū yào bǔ yá le.
    This tooth needs a filling.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

补bǔfill
牙yátooth

补 is to fill or repair, and 牙 is the tooth being filled.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 補; 补 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
甫
甫fǔ補bǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 補 shows 衤 (clothes) beside 甫, which gives the sound; the simplified 补 is a later shorthand, so its shape is not the historical breakdown.

Open 补 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 牙 →

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