Chinese word

托

Pronunciation

Pinyintuō

Meaning

  • verbask

Example

我托他帮我买票了。wǒ tuō tā bāng wǒ mǎi piào le

I asked him to buy me a ticket.

Illustration for 托 (ask)

More examples

她把孩子托给邻居照看。tā bǎ hái zi tuō gěi lín jū zhào kàn

She entrusted the child to her neighbor to look after.

Core concept

A request hands responsibility for an errand or task to someone else.

Common phrases

  • 托人照顾tuō rén zhào gù

    ask someone to take care of

  • 托给tuō gěi

    entrust to

Similar words

拜托bài tuō: Making a polite spoken appeal for someone's help.
麻烦má fán: Asking someone for help while recognizing the burden placed on them.
请求qǐng qiú: Making a respectful request for help or permission.
委托wěi tuō: Officially entrusting an important task to someone for handling.

Definition in Chinese

向别人请求帮助或代办某事，表示让对方替自己处理事务的一种行为。xiàng bié rén qǐng qiú bāng zhù huò dài bàn mǒu shì biǎo shì ràng duì fāng tì zì jǐ chú lǐ shì wù de yì zhǒng xíng wéi

Word origin

The hand radical in 托 (tuō, "to entrust") points to its older image of holding something up, while the word later applies that support to giving a task to someone else.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, English ask is broad, but this verb often highlights that another person will act on the speaker's behalf.

Other meanings

  • leave withverb
  • entrustverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word