Definition
断句 is a separable verb (离合词) that means 'to add punctuation breaks' or 'to determine where pauses go' — originally for classical Chinese texts written without punctuation, where readers had to figure out clause and sentence boundaries. In modern usage you can also use it figuratively for 'pausing in speech' or 'breaking up a sentence when reading aloud'. The object 句 can split off: 断了句 ('paused / broke the sentence'), 断好句 ('punctuate properly').
v.o.
to punctuateto insert pauses in unpunctuated writingto break up a sentence when reading aloudto pause
Examples
- ，断句。Gǔshū méiyǒu biāodiǎn, quán kào dúzhě zìjǐ duàn gōu.Ancient books have no punctuation — it's entirely up to the reader to break sentences.
- 。Nǐ lǎngdú de shíhou yào zhùyì duàn hǎo jù.When you read aloud, be careful to pause at the right places.
- 断句。Zhè piān wénzhāng li yǒu yí jù hěn nán duàn gōu.There's one sentence in this essay that's very hard to punctuate.
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