国务 (guó wù) — state affairs; national government business

Definition

Formal term for 'state affairs' — the affairs of national government, not personal or local matters. Almost always paired with specific nouns like 会议 ('State Affairs Council') or 委员 ('state councilor').

noun
state affairsnational government business

Examples

  • 国务。
    Tā fù zé chǔ lǐ rì cháng guó wù.
    He is responsible for handling daily state affairs.
  • 国务。
    guó wù Huì yì tǎo lùn le jīng jì gǎi gé fāng àn.
    The state affairs meeting discussed the economic reform plan.
  • 国务。
    Zhè wèi guó wù wěi yuán fā biǎo le zhòng yào jiǎng huà.
    This state councilor delivered an important speech.

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.

国guócountry
务wùaffairs

国 points to the country and 务 to its affairs, together naming state business.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 國; 国 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
囗囗wéiclosure
Sound part声符shēngfú
或
或huò國guó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 國 uses 囗 to show closure and 或 to give the sound.

Open 国 →

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 務; 务 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
敄
敄wù務wù
Same sound today

In the traditional form 務, 力 shows the sense of strength or effort, while 敄 gives the sound. The simplified 务 is a later shorthand.

Open 务 →

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