TongTong
Sign in

讨债 (tǎo zhài) — to demand repayment of a debt; to dun

Definition

讨债 (tǎo zhài) means to dun someone — actively press a debtor to pay back money owed. Used for direct, often insistent personal collection, more forceful than simply asking 要 (to ask for).

verb
to demand repayment of a debtto dun

Examples

  • ，讨债。
    Tā qiàn wǒ qián, wǒ míng tiān qù tǎo zhài.
    He owes me money; I'll go demand repayment tomorrow.
  • ，。
    Wǒ yǐ jīng xiàng tā tǎo guò sān cì zhài le, tā hái méi hái.
    I've already dunned him three times, and he still hasn't paid back.
  • 讨债？？
    Nǐ dǎ suàn zěn me tǎo zhài? zhí jiē qù hái shì xiān dǎ diàn huà?
    How do you plan to demand repayment? Go directly or call first?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

讨tǎodemand
债zhàidebt

讨 expresses demanding or collecting, and 债 is the debt being demanded.

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 討; 讨 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
肘
肘zhǒu討tǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 討 pairs 言 (speech) with a shortened form of 肘 for sound; an old reading took 言 plus 寸 (hand) as 'rectify'. The simplified 讨 is a shorthand, so its parts are not historical components.

Open 讨 →

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 債; 债 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
責
責zé債zhài
Same sound today

The traditional form 債 combines 亻 (person) with 責 as a sound part; the simplified 债 is a later shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 债 →
Appears in
Finance & Banking

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.