Chinese word

碰见

Pronunciation

Pinyinpèng jiàn

Meaning

  • verbrun into

Example

我在书店碰见了一个老朋友。wǒ zài shū diàn pèng jiàn le yí gè lǎo péng yǒu

I ran into an old friend at the bookstore.

Illustration for 碰见 (run into)

More examples

我在地铁站碰见他。wǒ zài dì tiě zhàn pèng jiàn tā

I ran into him at the subway station.

Core concept

An unexpected crossing of paths that brings a person or thing into view.

Common phrases

  • 碰见他pèng jiàn tā

    run into him

  • 碰见同学pèng jiàn tóng xué

    run into a classmate

Similar words

遇见yù jiàn: Meet a person by chance, without arranging the meeting beforehand.
见到jiàn dào: See a person or thing as it comes into view.
见面jiàn miàn: Meet someone face to face, whether by arrangement or by chance.
碰到pèng dào: Unexpectedly encounter a person or event.

Definition in Chinese

指在没有事先安排的情况下，偶然看到或遇到某人或某事，常用于口语。zhǐ zài méi yǒu shì xiān ān pái de qíng kuàng xià ǒu rán kàn dào huò yù dào mǒu rén huò mǒu shì cháng yòng yú kóu yǔ

Word origin

碰 (pèng, "bump into") + 见 (jiàn, "see") creates the image of suddenly seeing someone or something after crossing paths.

Usage tips

  • English often uses one verb for both scheduled appointments and chance encounters, but this Chinese verb signals that no plan came first.

Other meanings

  • meetverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word