交待

jiāodài

verb #8,477

Meanings

1 to hand over; to explain
2 to confess; to account for
3 to brief; to instruct

Characters

to hand over; to deliver

to wait; to treat

Examples

出发前他交待了几件事。

Chūfā qián tā jiāodài le jǐ jiàn shì.

Before leaving, he gave instructions on a few things.

这件事你得给大家一个交待。

Zhè jiàn shì nǐ děi gěi dàjiā yī ge jiāodài.

You need to give everyone an explanation for this.

嫌疑人终于交待了犯罪事实。

Xiányírén zhōngyú jiāodài le fànzuì shìshí.

The suspect finally confessed to the crime.

Tips

mistakes

交待 and 交代 are interchangeable in most contexts. 交代 is more standard in modern usage. Both mean to explain, hand over, or confess. Use either one — neither is wrong.

Stroke Order

交 jiāo

待 dài