December 20, 2021

Vocabulary 1-6 回: To Return, Circle, Answer and Respond.

6 minutes

Hi guys, Merry Christmas, and I wish you a happy 2022.
Welcome back.

Today, let’s talk about a new Character following the HSK vocabulary, number six, 回.
In the opening song 多情种, the character 回 is in a word, 回忆, it means the memory, and the character itself actually means to get back, or to return. Essentially, it’s saying, to look back to the past, that’s why it’s memory.
And similarly, there are other words like 回顾, 顾 means to look around, so 回顾 is review.
回头, 头 is the head, so 回头 is to look back, literally and figuratively, you could physically look back using this word, or you could just use it to express that you are looking back say for example, on life.
回家, going home.
回味, 味 is taste, so, 回味 is aftertaste.
So the first meaning is about that action, to return.

Its second meaning is an extension of the first one, it means to circle, to revolve.
回形针, a 回 shaped needle, if you look at the shape of this character, it is like a smaller square frame nested in a larger one, as a matter of fact, in the ancient writings, they were two circles, it means to circle around, or to revolve.
回旋, to maneuver, 旋 means turning, so turning around, maneuver.
迂回, to outflank, it is to move around the side of the enemy as a tactic, it’s very often used in modern business discussions when talking about competitions.

Now the third one, it means to answer.
回复, to reply, you could use it on an email or a message, 复 means to bounce or repeat, so 回复 is to answer.
回答, another way to say the answer, 答 also means reply.
回应, to respond, 应 is reception, so 回应 is to respond.

Now, the fourth meaning is, to reject.
送来的礼物都回了, I returned all the gifts.
回绝, to refuse, 绝 means an end, so 回绝, returning an end, that is to refuse.

The last meaning is very easy, it’s a noun, it means an episode or a chapter, it’s the classier for acts of a play, mostly used in a more formal context like opera, or modern drama.

So quick recap.