选拔 (xuǎn bá) — to select (the best candidates) through a screening process

Definition

选拔 is the formal, official 'select the best' — choosing top candidates after screening (tests, interviews), more rigorous than the everyday 选择. Use it for personnel, athletes, or talent picked through a competitive process.

verb
to select (the best candidates) through a screening process

Examples

  • 选拔。
    Gōng sī tōng guò duō lún miàn shì xuǎn bá le zuì hé shì de hòu xuǎn rén.
    The company selected the most suitable candidate through multiple rounds of interviews.
  • 。
    Xué xiào měi nián dōu huì cóng yōu xiù xué shēng zhōng xuǎn bá chū guó jiāo liú de rén cái.
    Every year the school selects talented students for overseas exchange from among the excellent students.
  • ，选拔。
    Jīng guò yán gé kǎo hé, tā bèi xuǎn bá wèi xiàng mù fù zé rén.
    After rigorous assessment, he was selected as the project leader.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

选xuǎnselect
拔bápick out

选 “select” and 拔 “pick out” point to choosing people, giving the sense of screening and selecting.

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 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
犮
犮bá拔bá
Same sound today

In 拔, the left side 扌 is a hand and the right side 犮 gives the sound; the shape pictures a hand pulling.

Open 拔 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Management

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