翻来覆去
fānláifùqù
over and over; to toss and turn
Characters in this word
来 lái
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 木 — tree
- Made of
- 未 not yet 丷 horns
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
覆 fù
- Strokes
- 18
- Radical
- 覀 — west, western, westward
- Made of
- 覀 west, western, westward 復 again, repeatedly
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 他躺在床上翻来覆去，脑子里全是第二天答辩可能遇到的问题。 Tā tǎng zài chuáng shàng fān lái fù qù, nǎozi lǐ quán shì dì èr tiān dábiàn kěnéng yùdào de wèntí. He tossed and turned in bed, his mind full of questions he might face at the next day's defence.
- 这个问题他翻来覆去想了一晚上，还是没有答案。 Zhège wèntí tā fān lái fù qù xiǎng le yì wǎnshang, háishi méiyǒu dá'àn. He turned this question over and over all night and still had no answer.
- 他把那首诗翻来覆去地读了好几遍。 Tā bǎ nà shǒu shī fān lái fù qù de dú le hǎo jǐ biàn. He read that poem over and over, many times.
Related words
- 翻 fān to turn over; to flip through
- 翻译 fānyì to translate; translator
- 翻番 fānfān to double
- 翻身 fānshēn to turn over; to free oneself from hardship
- 翻天覆地 fāntiānfùdì earth-shaking; tremendous
- 翻新 fānxīn to renovate; to refurbish
- 推翻 tuīfān to overthrow; to overturn; to refute
- 出来 chūlái to come out
- 回来 huílái to come back
- 进来 jìnlái to come in
- 来 lái to come
- 来到 láidào to arrive, to come to