(bǎo yòu) - to bless and protect, to watch over in Mandarin
bǎoyòuTraditional: 保佑
Translation
to bless and protect, to watch over
Word origin
A compound of 保 (bǎo, to keep safe) and 佑 (yòu, divine help), the latter written 祐 in its older form with 示, the altar radical, marking help that comes from the spirits.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 保 (bǎo, to keep safe) + 佑 (yòu, divine help)
Stroke order
保
佑
Examples
。
God bless you.
。
May heaven watch over him and bring him home safely.
庙，菩萨。
Every year the old man goes to the temple to ask the bodhisattva to protect the whole family.
，祖。
Mother says it is the ancestors watching over us.
。
Let me get through this exam all right.
保佑 (bǎo yòu) is protection from above. The one doing the protecting is a god, heaven, a bodhisattva or an ancestor, and the one protected is a person going into something risky: a journey, an operation, an exam. It sits in prayers, in temple offerings, and in the throwaway 老天保佑 that even sceptics say when a bus is late.
Grammatically it is plain: 保佑 plus the person, plus what you want for them. 保佑你平安, 保佑全家健康. The verb 求 in front of it, 求菩萨保佑, is how you ask.
The trap is the neighbouring word. 保护 is what a helmet or a bodyguard does, and it is what you want nine times out of ten. 保佑 is what a deity does, so 我会保佑你 comes out sounding as though you have quietly promoted yourself to god. Say 我会保护你.
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保佑: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "保佑" (to bless and protect, to watch over): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 57.