转账 (zhuǎn zhàng) — to transfer money (between bank accounts)

Definition

A modern banking/finance term meaning to move money between accounts (verb) or the transfer itself (noun). Common on phone apps and online banking.

to transfer money (between bank accounts)

转账。
Wǒ gāng gāng zài shǒu jī shàng zhuǎn zhàng gěi tā.
I just transferred money to him on my phone.
。
Tā zhuǎn le yì bǐ zhàng dào wǒ de zhàng hù.
He transferred a sum of money to my account.
转账，。
Nǐ kě yǐ yòng zhè ge ruǎn jiàn zhuǎn zhàng, bù xū yào shǒu xù fèi.
You can use this app to transfer money; no fee is required.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

转 conveys moving something, while 账 points to an account; together they mean moving money between accounts.

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

車專轉

Meaning part形符xíngfú

車車jūcarriage

Sound part声符shēngfú

專

專zhuān轉zhuǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

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 賬; 账 is its simplified writing.

貝長賬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

長

長cháng賬

Same sound today

In the traditional form 賬, 貝 is a shell and 長 is used for the sound; the simplified 账 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Appears in