铺床 (pū chuáng) — to make the bed | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Separable verb: 铺 + object, often written 铺床 or split with a complement (铺好了床). Same meaning as English 'make the bed'.

verb

to make the bed

铺床。
Tā bú huì pū chuáng.
He doesn't know how to make the bed.
。
Tā pù hǎo le chuáng jiù qù shàng bān le.
She made the bed and then went to work.
铺床。
Měi tiān zǎo shàng wǒ dōu yào pū chuáng.
I make the bed every morning.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

铺 means to spread or lay out, and 床 means bed, so together it means making the bed.

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 鋪; 铺 is its simplified writing.

金甫鋪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīngold; metal

Sound part声符shēngfú

甫

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鋪 pairs 金 (gold; metal) with 甫 as a sound part; the simplified 铺 is a shorthand.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

广木床

The 床 shape combines 广, a house, and 木, tree, to show a wooden bed inside a house.

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