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重新 (chóng xīn) — again, once more (from the beginning or in a new way)

Definition

重新 (chóng xīn) means 'all over again, from scratch,' often with a fresh start or new approach. Stronger than 再 ('again'), it pairs with verbs like 开始, 写, 做. The bare adverb 重 is a shorter written form.

adverb
againonce more (from the beginning or in a new way)

Examples

  • 重新。
    Wǒ men chóng xīn kāi shǐ ba.
    Let's start over.
  • 重新。
    Tā chóng xīn kǎo lǜ le yí xià zhè ge jì huà.
    He reconsidered this plan for a moment.
  • 重新。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ chóng xīn xiě yí biàn.
    The teacher asked me to write it again.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

重zhòngagain
新xīnnew

重 and 新 together simply express doing something again.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
斤斤jīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
辛
辛xīn新xīn
Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 41000 Most Frequent Chinese Words2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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