饱和

bǎo hé

saturated; filled to capacity

HSK 6

Character Breakdown

Understanding 饱和 (bǎo hé)

饱和 literally means 'saturated' or 'filled to capacity.' It is commonly used in scientific contexts such as chemistry and meteorology, for example, describing saturated solutions or air saturated with moisture. In everyday language, it can describe markets or environments that have reached a limit or capacity.

Common Collocations

  • 市场饱和 (shìchǎng bǎohé): market saturation, used when a market cannot easily absorb new products.
  • 饱和 (bǎohé diǎn): saturation point, often used in physics or chemistry.
  • 颜色饱和 (yánsè bǎohé): color saturation, describing vividness or intensity of colors.

Usage Notes

饱和 is often paired with (point) in scientific contexts to indicate a threshold. When describing markets or abstract concepts, it implies no room for growth or addition. It is a neutral term but often signals a limit or maximum capacity.

Avoid confusing 饱和 with (bǎo) alone, which means 'full' in the sense of being satiated from eating. 饱和 always implies a state of saturation or full capacity beyond just physical fullness.

Example Sentences

市场已经饱和,新产品很难进入。

Shìchǎng yǐjīng bǎohé, xīn chǎnpǐn hěn nán jìnrù.

The market is already saturated, making it difficult for new products to

空气中的水蒸气达到饱和点就会形成雾。

Kōngqì zhōng de shuǐ zhēngqì dádào bǎohé diǎn jiù huì xíngchéng wù.

When the water vapor in the air reaches the saturation point, fog forms.

这张图片的颜色已经饱和,看起来非常鲜艳。

Zhè zhāng túpiàn de yánsè yǐjīng bǎohé, kàn qǐlái fēicháng xiānyàn.

The colors in this picture are saturated, making it look very vivid.