bui3 mak6背默
Jyutpingbui3 mak6
Yalebui mahk
Definition
To write out a passage from memory without any hints, used as a teaching method for students to practice characters.
colloquialschool
How it's used
Distinguish this from 讀默, where the teacher reads the text aloud while students write. In 背默, the student must rely entirely on their own memory of the characters, making it a common method for testing rote memorization of Chinese characters in primary schools. It is a specific academic term rather than a general verb for writing from memory.
Examples
The teacher told us we have to take a dictation test tomorrow.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with general memorization like 背書, which focuses on reciting aloud. 背默 specifically requires the physical act of writing the characters down without looking at the source text.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
