不 bù
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
不约而同
bùyuē'értóng
to do the same thing by coincidence; without prior agreement
Characters in this word
约 yuē
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 纟 — silk
- Made of
- 纟 silk 勺 spoon, ladle
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
而 ér
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 而 — and, and then, and yet
同 tóng
- Strokes
- 6
- Radical
- 口 — mouth
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 听到好消息，大家不约而同地鼓起掌来。 Tīngdào hǎo xiāoxi, dàjiā bùyuē'értóng de gǔ qǐ zhǎng lái. Hearing the good news, everyone started clapping at the same moment.
- 看到老师进来，同学们不约而同地站了起来。 Kàndào lǎoshī jìnlái, tóngxuémen bùyuē'értóng de zhàn le qǐlái. When the teacher came in, the students all stood up at once without any signal.
- 我们不约而同地选了同一件礼物。 Wǒmen bùyuē'értóng de xuǎn le tóng yí jiàn lǐwù. We happened to choose the very same gift.