公干 (gōng gàn) — official business | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

official business

Examples

公干。
Tā zhè cì qù shàng hǎi shì wèi le gōng gàn.
He went to Shanghai this time for official business.
公干？
Nǐ míng tiān yǒu gōng gàn ma?
Do you have official business tomorrow?
公干。
Wǒ zuì jìn yào chū chāi bàn lǐ gōng gàn.
I need to go on a business trip soon to handle official business.

Origin

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.

公gōngofficial

公 means official or public, and 干 means work or business.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

倝

倝gàn乾gān

Same sound today

Appears in

Workplace & Office

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