Why does 留意到 mean "to take note (of something)"?

[webmagnets]

Why does 留意到 mean "to take note (of something)"?

How do those words fit together to mean that?

[Mingjing]

you need to understand the meaning of every character and that is enough.

about why they fit together to mean that, just like why "take node of" fit together to mean that.

u'd better thing in Chinese, just like me think in English.

[webmagnets]

What are the meanings of each of these three characters?

The dictionary mentions many different meanings for each.

Which english words do you think of that best represent the three characters in that phrase?

[muyongshi]

If you really want to try and dissect it maybe think of it as "leaving your concentration on". 留 has the meaning of 注意力放在莫方面, to concentrate on something.

So 留意 has the meaning of 注意 or 小心 but in this case it is to to notice (注意) something and it is to the point of retention (take note of) so you are noticing it 注意 and retaining it 留. Not a really great explanation but your question isn't really a good question.

As the poster above said, you need to think of these things not from a dissecting point of view but as a meaning in the original language. Don't try to think of it in English.

[webmagnets]

By dissecting the phrase I can actually think more like a chinese person.

I want to understand why this combination of words causes to a chinese person to think similar thoughts to an english person when he hears the words "to take notice of".

Thanks for your input. I will examine about your explanation.

[muyongshi]

By dissecting the phrase I can actually think more like a chinese person.

Not necessarily. Do you really think most Chinese people sit around going "hmmm why does this phrase mean what it means with this combination of characters?"? No, for the most part no. A child doesn't learn a lot of things this way as they learn their mother tongue. There are some that are that way- where you can learn things that way, and may be explained that way. But not everything.

[webmagnets]

So, how does the word 到 (dào) relate to this phrase?

[Guoke]

how does the word 到 (dào) relate to this phrase

Think of

看到

听到

闻到

尝到

想到

梦到

注意到

感觉到

意识到

发现到

and you'll get the idea.

[xiaocai]

The 到 here is just like 到 in 看到/听到/想到, which is a very common structure in chinese word formation, and I think you can roughly translate it as the of in to take note of.

留意 is not a combination of words but a word. Not every single character in Chinese represent a word.

[hbuchtel]

The 到 here is just like 到 in 看到/听到/想到, which is a very common structure in chinese word formation, and I think you can roughly translate it as the of in to take note of. 留意 is not a combination of words but a word. Not every single character in Chinese represent a word.

Nice, great explanation!

To the OP - This is basically the same answer as muyongshi's above, but FWIW: think of 留 as 'keep' and 意 as 'attention' for a combination of 'keep attention to' or 'keep your attention on'....

Regards, Henry

[Jim]

留意 seems sort of similar to the English 'bear in mind' to me, in that again you could argue about the nature of mind and whether it not it can literally 'bear' ideas or notions; likewise whether your 意 can 留 on a particular notion is no less reasonable a turn of phrase.