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从事 (cóng shì) — to be engaged in; to do (a job, activity, profession)

Definition

从事 (cóngshì) means to be engaged in a profession, career, or long-term activity. It sounds more formal than 做 and pairs with serious fields like research, writing, or a trade — not casual hobbies.

verb
to be engaged into do (a job, activity, profession)

Examples

  • 从事。
    Tā cóng shì kē xué yán jiū gōng zuò.
    He is engaged in scientific research.
  • 从事。
    Tā dà xué bì yè hòu cóng shì wén xué chuàng zuò.
    After graduating from university, she took up literary writing.
  • 从事？
    Nǐ cóng shì shén me zhí yè?
    What profession are you in?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

从cóngtake up
事shìmatter

从 means 'take up' or 'follow', and 事 means 'matter' or 'job', so it means to engage in work.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 從; 从 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
从
从cóng從cóng
Same sound today

The traditional form 從 pairs 辵 (walk) with 从, which gives the sound; the character was originally written 从.

Open 从 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Professions & Jobs5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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