租房 (zū fáng) — to rent an apartment (or house)

Definition

租房 means to rent an apartment or house (as the tenant). It is a separable verb: in patterns with time, duration, or completed action, the object 房 often splits off (e.g. 租了一年房).

verb
to rent an apartment (or house)

Examples

  • 租房。
    Wǒ xiǎng zài zhè ge xiǎo qū zū fáng.
    I want to rent an apartment in this neighborhood.
  • 。
    Wǒ qù nián zài zhè ge xiǎo qū zū le fáng.
    I rented an apartment in this neighborhood last year.
  • 租房。
    Tā dǎ suàn zū fáng yì nián.
    He plans to rent an apartment for a year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

租zūrent
房fánghouse

租 means to rent, and 房 is the place being rented.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě租zū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

租 uses 禾 (grain) because land rent was paid in grain, and 且 shows the pronunciation.

Open 租 →

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
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →

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