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干活儿 (gàn huó r) — to work (especially physical labor), to do a job

Definition

干活儿 (gàn huór) is the everyday, casual word for 'to work', usually meaning physical labor or a hands-on job. 在职 describes holding a position (a status), while 务工 is more formal and typically refers to migrant laborers.

verb
to work (especially physical labor)to do a job

Examples

  • 干活儿。
    Wǒ jīn tiān yào gàn huó r.
    I need to work today.
  • 。
    Tā gān le yì tiān huó r.
    He worked for a day.
  • 干活儿？
    Nǐ men zài nǎ r gàn huó r?
    Where do you work?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

干gāndo
活儿job
活huówork儿érer
后缀Suffix

干 means do and 活儿 means job, so the word is to do work.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑活huó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 5Workplace & Office

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