骑马 (qí mǎ) — to ride a horse | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning 'to ride a horse' (qí + 马, separable verb). The verb 骑 also pairs with 自行车 (bicycle) and 摩托车 (motorcycle), but here 马 is the object.

verb

to ride a horse

Examples

。
Wǒ qí guò liǎng huí mǎ.
I have ridden a horse twice.
骑马。
Tā xǐ huan qí mǎ.
He likes to ride horses.
。
Tā men zài cǎo yuán shàng qí le yì tiān de mǎ.
They rode horses on the grassland for a whole day.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

骑 means to ride, and 马 is the animal ridden, so 骑马 describes riding a horse.

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 騎; 骑 is its simplified writing.

馬奇騎

Meaning part形符xíngfú

馬馬mǎhorse

Sound part声符shēngfú

奇

奇qí騎qí

Same sound today

The traditional form 騎 combines 馬, meaning horse, with 奇, which supplies the sound, for riding a horse; the simplified 骑 is a later shorthand.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Appears in

Animals & Mammals

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