假药 (jiǎ yào) — counterfeit medicine, fake drugs

Definition

noun

counterfeit medicinefake drugs

假药。
Hěn duō rén cóng wǎng shàng mǎi jiǎ yào.
Many people buy counterfeit medicine online.
假药。
Zhèng fǔ zhèng zài dǎ jī jiǎ yào de shēng chǎn.
The government is cracking down on the production of fake drugs.
假药。
Fú yòng jiǎ yào duì jiàn kāng fēi cháng wēi xiǎn.
Taking counterfeit medicine is very dangerous to your health.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

药yàomedicine

假 means not genuine, and 药 is medicine; the word names counterfeit medicine.

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.

亻叚假

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ假jiǎ

Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

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 藥; 药 is its simplified writing.

艹樂藥

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艹Written in full as艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

樂

樂lè藥yào

Same sound today

In the traditional form 藥, 艹 shows grass and 樂 gives the sound; this story is about 藥, not about the simplified 药.