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有害 (yǒu hài) — harmful, damaging, destructive

Definition

有害 (yǒu hài) means actively harmful or damaging to health/safety. Stronger than 不利 (merely unfavorable or disadvantageous) and 不良 (unhealthy, often a mild state).

phrase
harmfuldamagingdestructive

Examples

  • 有害。
    Zhè zhǒng qì tǐ duì kōng qì yǒu hài.
    This kind of gas is harmful to the air.
  • 有害。
    Chī tài duō táng duì yá chǐ yǒu hài.
    Eating too much sugar is harmful to teeth.
  • 有害。
    Tā de xíng wéi duì dà jiā yǒu hài.
    His behavior is harmful to everyone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

有yǒuhave
害hàiharm

有 contributes have and 害 contributes harm, so the whole means having harm, i.e. harmful.

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
丯
丯jiè害hài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

害 was borrowed purely for its sound. Its old picture, possibly a house rafter, is unrelated to harm.

Open 害 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Safety & Danger

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.