受益匪浅 (shòu yì-fěi qiǎn) — to benefit greatly; to gain a lot (from an expe…

Definition

A fixed set phrase meaning to gain a great deal from an experience, book, or talk. 受益 implies a personal gain, not giving a lecture (讲座/演讲).

phrase

to benefit greatlyto gain a lot (from an experience, book, lecture, etc.)

，受益匪浅。
Cóng zhè běn shū zhōng, wǒ shòu yì-fěi qiǎn.
I benefited greatly from this book.
，受益匪浅。
Tīng le tā de jiǎng zuò, dà jiā dōu shòu yì-fěi qiǎn.
After listening to his lecture, everyone benefited a lot.
受益匪浅？
Nǐ cóng zhè cì lǚ xíng zhōng shòu yì-fěi qiǎn le ma?
Did you benefit a lot from this trip?

Characters in this word

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

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

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

益 puts 水 (water) above 皿 (a vessel), originally showing water overflowing the vessel.

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

匚非匪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

匚匚fāngbox

Sound part声符shēngfú

非

Same sound today

匪 is built from 匚, a box, plus 非, which gives the sound.

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 淺; 浅 is its simplified writing.

氵戔淺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

戔

戔jiān淺qiǎn

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 淺 pairs 氵 (water) with 戔 to give the sound; 浅 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

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