The Chinese word 预防 (yùfáng), meaning "to prevent" or "to take precautions", is a compound word formed by combining two meaningful characters: 预 (yù), which conveys the idea of "in advance" or "beforehand", and 防 (fáng), which means "to defend against" or "to guard". The formation follows a logical, sequential structure where 预 modifies 防, specifying that the action of defending or guarding is done proactively and ahead of time. This semantic combination creates a verb that explicitly denotes the act of taking early measures to avert a potential negative outcome, reflecting a common pattern in Chinese where two characters with related meanings are joined to express a more precise and nuanced concept.