děng
attendez
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我在等你。
wǒ zài děng nǐ.
I am waiting for you.
你在等什么？
nǐ zài děng shénme?
What are you waiting for?
我们都在等他。
wǒmen dōu zài děng tā.
We are all waiting for him.
我在等公共汽车。
wǒ zài děng gōnggòng qìchē.
I am waiting for the bus.
你等一下。
nǐ děng yīxià.
Wait a minute.
我们都在等他。
wǒmen dōu zài děng tā.
We are all waiting for him.
等待 (děng dài)
wait
等候 (děng hòu)
wait for
期待 (qī dài)
expect
候 (hòu)
wait
待 (dài)
wait
先 (xiān)
before
后 (hòu)
after
The Chinese character 等 (děng) is composed of two parts: 亻(rén) and 登 (dēng). The radical 亻(rén) indicates that the character is related to people, while the phonetic component 登 (dēng) provides a clue to its pronunciation. The original meaning of 等 was "to climb" or "to ascend", which can be seen in the oracle bone script, where the character depicts a person climbing a ladder. Over time, the meaning of 等 expanded to include "to wait", "to expect", and "to be equal". In modern Chinese, 等 is commonly used as a suffix to indicate plurality or equality, as in 我们等 (wǒmen děng, "we") or 一等奖 (yī děng jiǎng, "first prize"). It can also be used as a verb, meaning "to wait" or "to expect", as in 我在等你 (wǒ zài děng nǐ, "I'm waiting for you").
