Chinese word

挽留

Pronunciation

Pinyinwǎn liú

Meaning

  • verbpersuade ___ to stay

Example

老板试图挽留她继续工作。láo bǎn shì tú wǎn liú tā jì xù gōng zuò

The boss tried to persuade her to keep working.

Illustration for 挽留 (persuade ___ to stay)

More examples

同事们劝了很久，最后也没能挽留住他。tóng shì men quàn le hěn jiǔ zuì hòu yě méi néng wǎn liú zhù tā

The colleagues tried to persuade him for a long time, but in the end they could not keep him from leaving.

Core concept

An intentional effort to keep a person from leaving by appealing to the person's wishes or needs.

Common phrases

  • 挽留住wǎn liú zhù

    keep from leaving

  • 挽留不住wǎn liú bú zhù

    fail to keep from leaving

Similar words

留住liú zhù: Keeps a person or object in a place instead of letting it leave.
劝留quàn liú: Urges someone who is about to leave to stay by giving reasons.
说服shuō fú: Convinces someone through discussion to accept an idea or change an action.
慰留wèi liú: Encourages someone to stay by easing their feelings or giving emotional support.

Definition in Chinese

用语言或行动劝说别人不要离开，使其继续停留或留在原地。yòng yǔ yán huò xíng dòng quàn shuō bié rén bú yào lí kāi shǐ qí jì xù tíng liú huò liú zài yuán dì

Word origin

挽 (wǎn, "pull") + 留 (liú, "remain") presents staying as being drawn back and kept in place.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, the person normally follows the verb directly, while a reason or activity that keeps the person there can come later in the sentence.

Other meanings

  • retainverb

Opposites

  • 劝走quàn zǒupersuade to leaveverb

Word lists with this word