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管事 (guǎn shì) — to be in charge, to manage affairs; (colloquial) to be effective, to work

Definition

管事 (guǎn shì) has two distinct uses: as a verb it means 'to be in charge / manage affairs'; colloquially it also means 'to work, to be effective' (of methods, medicine, etc.).

verb
to be in chargeto manage affairs(colloquial) to be effectiveto work

Examples

  • 管事，。
    Tā zài gōng sī guǎn shì, fù zé rì cháng yùn yíng.
    He is in charge at the company and handles daily operations.
  • 。
    Tā guǎn bù liǎo zhè me dà de shì.
    He can't manage such big affairs.
  • 管事，。
    Zhè ge yào hěn guǎn shì, chī le yí cì jiù hǎo le.
    This medicine is very effective; I felt better after taking it once.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

管guǎnmanage
事shìaffairs

管 and 事 together mean to manage affairs, so the word denotes being in charge or being effective.

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
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
官
官guān管guǎn
Same sound today

管 has 竹 (bamboo) on top to show it relates to bamboo, and 官 gives its sound.

Open 管 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
Appears in
Management

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