充值 (chōng zhí) — to top up, to recharge (a card, account, etc.) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

充值 (chōngzhí) means to add money to a prepaid account — a phone, transit card, or game balance. Contrast with 充电, which recharges a battery (or one's energy), not an account.

verb

to top upto recharge (a card, account, etc.)

Examples

，充值。
Wǒ de shǒu jī huà fèi kuài yòng wán le, xū yào chōng zhí.
My phone credit is almost used up; I need to top up.
充值。
Nǐ kě yǐ zài wǎng shàng gěi gōng jiāo kǎ chōng zhí.
You can recharge your bus card online.
充值。
Zhè ge yóu xì zhàng hào yǐ jīng chōng zhí guò le.
This game account has already been topped up.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

充chōngfill/charge

“充” means to fill or charge, and “值” means value; together they mean adding value to an account.

Characters in this word

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

𠫓儿充

𠫓𠫓𠫓a newborn
儿儿érstanding person

充 pairs 𠫓, a newborn, with 儿, a standing person, to picture a newborn growing to stand.

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

亻直值

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

直

直zhí值zhí

Same sound today

值 is made from 亻 (written in full as 人, a person) and 直, with 直 giving the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Money & Currency

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