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管家 (guǎn jiā) — butler; housekeeper (in a private home); manager; steward (in a hotel, estate, or institution)

Definition

管家 is a professional household or estate manager — more senior and formal than 保姆 (domestic help). It also means the hotel/institution 'steward', broader in scope than 经理 (business manager).

noun
butlerhousekeeper (in a private home)managersteward (in a hotel, estate, or institution)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 管家。
    Zhè wèi guǎn jiā guǎn lǐ zhe zhěng gè zhuāng yuán.
    This butler manages the entire estate.
  • 管家。
    Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn de guǎn jiā fú wù fēi cháng zhuān yè.
    The butler service at this hotel is very professional.
  • 管家，。
    Tā shì yí wèi jīng yàn fēng fù de guǎn jiā, fù zé guǎn lǐ zhěng gè jiā zú de cái chǎn.
    He is an experienced steward responsible for managing the entire family's assets.

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
家jiāhousehold

管 (manage) and 家 (household) together give the sense of managing a household.

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 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Professions & JobsSocial Roles & Status

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