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药店 (yào diàn) — pharmacy

Definition

药店 is the place ('pharmacy, drugstore') where you buy medicine. Contrast with 药 (the medicine itself) — 药店 is a 地点 noun, not the product.

noun
pharmacy
Measure word · 家

Examples

  • 药店？
    Zhè ge yào diàn yǒu yào ma?
    Does this pharmacy have medicine?
  • 药店？
    Nà jiā yào diàn zài nǎ lǐ?
    Where is that pharmacy?
  • 药店。
    Mā ma qù yào diàn mǎi shuǐ guǒ.
    Mom goes to the pharmacy to buy fruit.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

药yàomedicine
店diànshop

药 names the medicine, and 店 names the shop, giving a pharmacy.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 藥; 药 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
樂
樂lè藥yào
Same sound today

In the traditional form 藥, 艹 shows grass and 樂 gives the sound; this story is about 藥, not about the simplified 药.

Open 药 →

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
广广guǎnghouse built to depend on a cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn店diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

店 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, and 占, which gives the sound.

Open 店 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2Medicine & Treatment

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