The word 拿

[G - Steven]

Hi everyone,

I got a question concerning the word 拿. It seems to have a lot of very different meanings. I sort of figured out it's meaning is affected by the suffix it gets, such as 拿着，拿到，拿进来，拿去，拿走 ; pretty much like 找(to search), which means 'to find' when you add 到. So 找到 becomes 'to find'.

However, 拿 seems to be a lot more complex than 找, so could someone explain me how it works, preferably with some examples?

Thanks in advance

[Gulao]

Generally speaking, 拿 has the meaning of "to pick up." It's actually a specific lifting action, but I don't remember the details. Whatever they are, the details also allow the word to take the meaning of "take." The thing about all of the compounds you list is that they involve compliments, which affect the nature, aspect, or direction for the preceding verb. For instance, 走 implies a leaving motion or moving away, so 拿走 could literally mean "take away." Or more technically: "to pick up in an away-ward direction." So the meaning will depend more on the way the compliment acts on.

These compliments are pretty common, so you'll find them in a lot of contexts other than just with 找 and 拿. For instance, you may come across 放进去, 走过来, 贴着, and the list goes on. It's best not to think of such compounds in terms of the main verb alone, but in terms of how the compliment, uh... compliments the main verb.

[Ge-lin]

到, on the other hand, is not special for 拿... think of 看到 聽到 學到 吃到 ... it it used with a verb to show that it has happened... "I learned something interesting." 我學到一件很有趣的事情... Like, something has come to you... like the ability to hear as in 聽到

or, 吃到這麼貴的食物的機會很少!

Anyway, hope that helps...

[brightoutlook]

Gulao, I like your description of the word 拿走. It will help me remember the word.

I also like to break down a character into its components to try to grasp the meaning. It usually works. For example 拿 is made from 手 hand and 合 to join. So 拿 could be summed up with the idea of joining the hand to something.

You can find more examples of words that use 拿 here:

http://chinese-characters.org/contained/6/62FF.html

[Mugi]

On behalf of all the complimented verbs, I would like to say "thank you!"