预订 (yù dìng) — to reserve, to book, to place an order in advan… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

预订 means to book or reserve in advance (seats, tickets, rooms). Contrast with 订, which focuses on ordering goods or subscribing, and 预约, used for booking a service or appointment (doctor, salon).

verb

to reserveto bookto place an order in advance

Easily confused

预定yù dìngsound-aliketo schedule (a plan, project) in advance

Examples

预订。
Wǒ men yù dìng le míng tiān wǎn cān de zuò wèi.
We reserved seats for tomorrow's dinner.
预订？
Nǐ yù dìng le qù shàng hǎi de huǒ chē piào ma?
Have you booked a train ticket to Shanghai?
预订。
Tā yù dìng le yí shù huā sòng gěi mā ma.
He ordered a bouquet of flowers for his mother.

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.

预yùin advance

预 means beforehand and 订 means to order, giving ordering ahead.

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 預; 预 is its simplified writing.

予頁預

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yè

Sound part声符shēngfú

予

予yǔ預yù

Same sound today

The traditional form 預 combines 予 for the sound and 頁 for the meaning; the simplified 预 is a later shorthand.

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 訂; 订 is its simplified writing.

言丁訂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

丁dīng訂dìng

Same sound today

The traditional form 訂 combines 言, related to speech, with 丁, which gives the sound; the simplified 订 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 Shopping & Errands

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