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verb HSK 5
Traditional 訂婚
dìng hūn
to get engaged · to be betrothed · engagement

Meaning

订婚 means to formally commit to marriage before the actual wedding ceremony. It represents an official promise between two people (and traditionally their families) to marry in the future. In Chinese culture, this was historically a significant ceremony involving family negotiations and exchange of gifts.

Usage

订婚 is used in formal contexts to discuss engagement. Modern Chinese couples may have an engagement ceremony (订婚仪式) or simply announce their engagement. It's often followed by mentioning the fiancé(e) using 未婚夫/未婚妻. The term carries more weight than casual dating, representing a serious commitment to marry.

Examples

  1. 01
    他们上个月订婚了，明年春天结婚。
    Tāmen shàng gè yuè dìng hūn le, míng nián chūntiān jié hūn.
    They got engaged last month and will get married next spring.
  2. 02
    我姐姐的男朋友向她求婚了，他们打算下个月举行订婚仪式。
    Wǒ jiějie de nán péngyou xiàng tā qiú hūn le, tāmen dǎsuàn xià gè yuè jǔ xíng dìng hūn yí shì.
    My older sister's boyfriend proposed to her, and they plan to hold an engagement ceremony next month.

Characters

Measure words

  • 次cì订过一次婚

Common collocations

  • 订婚仪式
    dìng hūn yí shì
    engagement ceremony
  • 订婚戒指
    dìng hūn jiè zhi
    engagement ring
  • 举行订婚仪式
    jǔ xíng dìng hūn yí shì
    to hold an engagement ceremony
  • 宣布订婚
    xuān bù dìng hūn
    to announce the engagement

Antonyms

Origin

订 originally means 'to establish' or 'to fix,' while 婚 means 'marriage.' Together they literally mean 'to fix/establish a marriage,' reflecting the formal commitment nature of engagement.

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