过年 (guò nián) — to celebrate the Chinese New Year; to spend the…

Definition

Used specifically for celebrating the Chinese/Lunar New Year. 过节 is the general word for celebrating any festival.

verb

to celebrate the Chinese New Yearto spend the New Year holiday

过年。
Wǒ měi nián dōu huí jiā guò nián.
I go home every year to celebrate the New Year.
过年？
Nǐ dǎ suàn zài nǎ lǐ guò nián?
Where do you plan to spend the New Year?
。
Wǒ guò le yí gè rè nao de nián.
I had a lively New Year celebration.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

过 means to spend or pass through, while 年 names the year being celebrated.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi過guò

Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

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

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Appears in