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助手 (zhù shǒu) — assistant; helper

Definition

助手 is a 'helper / assistant' (usually a person in a supporting role at work). More formal than 帮手; 助理 is the title for a professional/personal assistant.

noun
assistanthelper
Measure word · 个
Easily confused

Examples

  • 助手。
    Wǒ de zhù shǒu bāng wǒ zhěng lǐ wén jiàn.
    My assistant helps me organize files.
  • 助手。
    Tā shì yí wèi fēi cháng zhuān yè de zhù shǒu.
    He is a very professional assistant.
  • 助手。
    Zhè ge zhì néng zhù shǒu kě yǐ huí dá gè zhǒng wèn tí.
    This smart assistant can answer various questions.

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.

助zhùhelp
手shǒuperson

助 carries helping, and 手 stands for a person, so the word means a helping person.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrong arm
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě助zhù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

助 pairs 力, a strong arm, with 且, which gives the sound; the meaning is help with strength.

Open 助 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →
Appears in
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