Chinese word

打断

Pronunciation

Pinyindǎ duàn

Meaning

  • verbinterrupt

Example

不要随便打断别人。bú yào suí biàn dǎ duàn bié rén

Don't interrupt people without thinking.

Illustration for 打断 (interrupt)

More examples

他的话还没说完，就被对方打断了。tā de huà hái méi shuō wán jiù bèi duì fāng dǎ duàn le

He had not finished speaking when the other person interrupted him.

Core concept

An outside action cuts into another person's ongoing speech and stops its thread before it can continue.

Common phrases

  • 打断别人的陈述dǎ duàn bié rén de chén shù

    interrupt another person's statement

  • 被打断的发言bèi dǎ duàn de fā yán

    interrupted remarks

  • 打断谈话的节奏dǎ duàn tán huà de jié zòu

    interrupt the flow of a conversation

Similar words

插嘴chā zuǐ: Speak during another person's turn by adding one's own words instead of waiting.
中断zhōng duàn: Bring an ongoing activity or event to a temporary or complete stop.
打岔dǎ chà: Break the flow of a conversation with a side topic or a casual remark.

Definition in Chinese

用言语或动作中止他人正在进行的谈话，使其无法继续原来的叙述。yòng yán yǔ huò dòng zuò zhōng zhǐ tā rén zhèng zài jìn xíng de tán huà shǐ qí wú fǎ jì xù yuán lái de xù shù

Word origin

The compound 打断 (dǎduàn, "interrupt") combines 打 (dǎ, "strike") + 断 (duàn, "cut off"), presenting speech as something forcibly cut short.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, this verb describes stopping an ongoing turn, not simply speaking after the other person has finished, which keeps descriptions of turn-taking precise.

Other meanings

  • break offverb
  • interfere withverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word