拉帮结派
lā bāng jié pài
to form cliques; to gang up
Character by character
拉lā
pull in
pull in
帮bāng
gang
gang
结jié
form
form
派pài
faction
faction
Example
他一到新单位就拉帮结派，同事们都很反感。
He started forming cliques the moment he joined, and his colleagues resented it deeply.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Always critical: of office cliques, factions in a party, clan blocs in a village election. Often in a list with 搞小圈子 (to run a little circle of one’s own).
Learn this in Lesson 198 · HSK 7–9: 村委会选举 (Village elections)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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