挑选

• Pinyin: tiāo xuǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 挑 = 扌(hand) + 兆 (phonetic); 选 = 辶(movement) + 巽 (phonetic)

Meaning

To select; to choose carefully from among several options.

More deliberate than plain 选 (xuǎn). Implies the process of examining multiple options before settling on the best one. Commonly used in shopping, recruitment, and competitions where careful comparison is involved.

Examples

1. 她花了半个小时挑选合适的生日礼物。 She spent half an hour carefully selecting a suitable birthday gift.
2. 公司从数百名候选人中挑选出了五名新员工。 The company selected five new employees from hundreds of candidates.
3. 你可以在这些颜色中随意挑选自己喜欢的那种。 You can freely pick whichever colour you like from these options.

Usage Guide

Context: shopping, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 请仔细挑选，不要着急。(Please choose carefully — there's no rush.)
• 这次比赛从全班挑选了三名同学参加。(Three students were selected from the whole class for this competition.)

Don't Say

• 挑选了他 — avoid this alone; say 挑选了他作为代表 to make the role clear, as context is needed for 挑选.

Origin & History

Compound of 挑 (to pick out) and 选 (to choose), together emphasising the deliberate act of selecting from a range of options.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal