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难倒 (nán dǎo) — to stump, to baffle, to nonplus

Definition

A verb meaning 'to stump or baffle' — always used about a question, problem, or task that defeats someone who tries to answer or solve it. Take the person as the object and the difficult thing as the subject.

verb
to stumpto baffleto nonplus

Examples

  • 难倒。
    Zhè dào shù xué tí nán dǎo le quán bān tóng xué.
    This math problem stumped the whole class.
  • 难倒。
    Tā de wèn tí nán dǎo le zhuān jiā.
    His question stumped the expert.
  • ，难倒。
    Zhè ge wèn tí tài nán le, shuí dōu bèi nán dǎo le.
    This question is too hard; everyone was stumped by it.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

难nándifficulty
倒dǎofall

难, difficulty, and 倒, falling, combine to picture being stumped.

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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
到
到dào倒dào
Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

Open 倒 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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