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坏事 (huài shì) — a bad thing; an evil deed

Definition

noun
a bad thingan evil deed
Measure word · 件

Examples

  • 坏事。
    Nà jiàn huài shì chuán biàn le zhěng gè cūn zi.
    That bad thing spread throughout the whole village.
  • 坏事。
    Tā zuò le yí jiàn huài shì.
    He did a bad thing.
  • 坏事。
    Wǒ men bù néng róng rěn rèn hé huài shì.
    We cannot tolerate any evil deeds.

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.

坏huàibad
事shìmatter; deed

坏 means bad and 事 means a matter or deed, so together they denote a bad deed.

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 壞; 坏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái壞huài
Same sound today

For the traditional form 壞, 土 (earth) is the meaning part and 褱 supplies the sound; earth is used because something that rots eventually becomes earth. This is about 壞, not the simplified 坏.

Open 坏 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
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