工作证 (gōng zuò zhèng) — employee ID card; work permit

Definition

noun
employee ID cardwork permit
Measure word · 张

Examples

  • 工作证。
    Qǐng chū shì nín de gōng zuò zhèng.
    Please show your employee ID card.
  • 工作证，。
    Tā de gōng zuò zhèng diū le, jìn bú qù bàn gōng lóu.
    He lost his work permit and can't enter the office building.
  • 工作证。
    Gōng sī gěi měi gè yuán gōng fā le yì zhāng xīn gōng zuò zhèng.
    The company issued a new ID card to every employee.

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.

工作work
工gōngwork作zuòwork
联合Side by side
证zhèngcertificate

工作 gives the job, and 证 gives the card, together forming an employee ID.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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 證; 证 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
登
登dēng證zhèng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 證 pairs 言, a words/speech part, with 登 as a sound clue; the simplified 证 is a later shorthand.

Open 证 →

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