缺勤 (quē qín) — to be absent (from work, school, or duty)

Definition

Formal verb meaning 'to be absent from work or school'. Pairs with 率 (出勤率 'attendance rate') and behaves as a separable verb: 缺了三次勤.

verb

to be absent (from work, school, or duty)

缺勤。
Tā zhè zhōu quē qín le liǎng cì.
He was absent twice this week.
缺勤。
Gōng sī duì quē qín xíng wéi yǒu yán gé de guī dìng.
The company has strict rules about absence.
。
Tā zhè xué qī quē le sān cì qín.
He was absent three times this semester.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

缺quēmiss/lack

勤qínattendance

Missing attendance at work or school means being absent from a duty.

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.

缶夬缺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

缶缶fǒuearthen pot

Sound part声符shēngfú

夬

夬guài缺quē

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

缺 pairs 缶, an earthen pot, with 夬, which gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.