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留级 (liú jí) — to repeat a grade; to be held back (in school)

Definition

Verb for being held back a grade in school because of poor performance. Unlike 升级 (advancing a grade), 留级 means staying at the same level for another year.

verb
to repeat a gradeto be held back (in school)

Examples

  • 留级。
    Tā yīn wèi chéng jì bù hǎo liú jí le.
    He repeated the grade because of poor grades.
  • 。
    Wǒ xiǎo shí hou liú guò liǎng jí.
    I repeated two grades when I was young.
  • 留级。
    Xué xiào jué dìng ràng tā liú jí.
    The school decided to make him repeat the grade.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

留liústay
级jígrade

留 means stay and 级 names the school grade, so the meaning is staying back in a grade.

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
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
卯
卯mǎo留liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

留 combines 田 (field) with 卯, which gives the sound.

Open 留 →

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 級; 级 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
及
及jí級jí
Same sound today

The traditional form 級 has 糹 (thread) and 及 as a sound part; its original sense was a sequence related to silk. The simplified 级 is a later shorthand.

Open 级 →
Appears in
Exams & GradesSchool & Education

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