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家务 (jiā wù) — housework; household chores

Definition

家务 is the everyday work of running a home — cleaning, cooking, laundry. Unlike 家庭 ('family' as people/relationships) or 家政 (more formal, also 'domestic service as a job'), 家务 focuses on the chores themselves, usually paired with 做.

noun
houseworkhousehold chores

Examples

  • 家务。
    Tā xià bān yǐ hòu zǒng shì xiān zuò jiā wù.
    He always does housework first after work.
  • 家务。
    Zhōu mò wǒ men yì jiā rén yì qǐ zuò jiā wù.
    On weekends our whole family does housework together.
  • 家务，。
    Yǒu de jiā wù tā zuò, yǒu de wǒ zuò.
    Some housework she does, some I do.

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.

家jiāhousehold
务wùaffairs; tasks

家 means household and 务 means affairs; together they name the tasks done around the home.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Cleaning & Chores

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