‘组队’ literally means ‘to form a team’ — combining 组 (zǔ), meaning ‘to organize or form’, and 队 (duì), meaning ‘team’ or ‘group’. It’s a verb used when people come together intentionally to collaborate on a shared goal, such as playing a sport, competing in a tournament, completing a school project, or even joining forces for a game. Unlike the noun ‘team’ (队), which refers to the group itself, ‘组队’ emphasizes the *action* of assembling that group.

This word is common in both casual and semi-formal contexts — especially among students, gamers, and coworkers — but it’s rarely used for permanent or official organizations (e.g., you wouldn’t say ‘组队’ for founding a company). It often appears with modal verbs (e.g., 要组队, 想组队) or in imperative constructions (e.g., 快来组队！). The object of ‘组队’ is usually implied or introduced with ‘跟…一起’ (‘together with…’) rather than a direct object marker like ‘了’ or ‘过’.