TongTong
Sign in

分期 (fēn qī) — to do in installments (often referring to payment); to do in stages or phases

Definition

分期 means 'to split into stages or installments' — most often used for payment (分期付款, paying in installments) but also for completing work in phases.

verb
to do in installments (often referring to payment)to do in stages or phases

Examples

  • ，。
    Wǒ mǎi le yí liàng chē, dǎ suàn fēn qī fù kuǎn.
    I bought a car and plan to pay in installments.
  • 分期，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù xū yào fēn qī wán chéng, fēn chéng sān bù jìn xíng.
    This project needs to be completed in stages, divided into three steps.
  • 分期，。
    Tā men tóng yì ràng wǒ men fēn qī huán kuǎn, měi yuè fù yí cì.
    They agreed to let us repay in installments, once a month.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

分fēndivide
期qīperiods

分 'divide' and 期 'periods' combine to mean divide into stages.

Characters in this word

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

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí期qī
Same sound today

The original form paired 其 for its sound with 日 (sun). A related form changed that sun to 月, and this later developed into 期.

Open 期 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.