Chinese word

碰到

Pronunciation

Pinyinpèng dào

Meaning

  • verbrun into

Example

我昨天碰到了一个老同学。wǒ zuó tiān pèng dào le yí gè lǎo tóng xué

I ran into an old classmate yesterday.

Illustration for 碰到 (run into)

More examples

出差时我碰到了很多麻烦。chū chāi shí wǒ pèng dào le hěn duō má fán

I ran into a lot of trouble while on a business trip.

Core concept

An unexpected crossing of paths that can be a physical bump or an unplanned encounter with a person or situation.

Common phrases

  • 碰到困难pèng dào kùn nán

    run into difficulties

  • 碰到朋友pèng dào péng yǒu

    run into a friend

  • 碰到麻烦pèng dào má fán

    run into trouble

Similar words

碰见pèng jiàn: Happen to meet or come across a person or thing.
遇到yù dào: Unexpectedly encounter a person, event, or problem.
见到jiàn dào: Catch sight of a person or thing.
见面jiàn miàn: Meet face to face with someone.

Definition in Chinese

指身体或物体间发生碰撞，也常用来表示意外遇见人或遭遇某种情况，侧重于偶然发生的接触或遭遇。zhǐ shēn tǐ huò wù tǐ jiān fā shēng pèng zhuàng yě cháng yòng lái biǎo shì yì wài yù jiàn rén huò zāo yù móu zhǒng qíng kuàng cè zhòng yú ǒu rán fā shēng de jiē chù huò zāo yù

Word origin

碰 (pèng, "collide or touch") + 到 (dào, "reach or arrive") combines collision with arrival, treating an unforeseen encounter as coming into contact with something.

Usage tips

  • The word fits both a chance meeting and an unexpected problem, while a prearranged meeting calls for different Chinese wording.

Other meanings

  • bump intoverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word