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话费 (huà fèi) — phone bill; call charges (for mobile or landline)

Definition

话费 specifically means charges for phone calls (mobile or landline). Pair it with 费, the general word for 'fee/cost' used in compounds like 运费 ('shipping fee').

noun
phone billcall charges (for mobile or landline)

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè ge yuè de huà fèi bǐ shàng ge yuè guì le hěn duō.
    This month's phone bill is a lot more expensive than last month's.
  • 话费，。
    Wǒ zuó tiān gāng jiāo le huà fèi, xiàn zài yǒu yú é le.
    I just paid my phone bill yesterday, so now there's a balance.
  • 话费。
    Nǐ chá yí xià huà fèi hái shèng duō shǎo.
    Check how much phone credit is left.

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.

话huàphone speech
费fèicharge

话费 is the 费 charged for 话, i.e. phone calls.

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Money & CurrencyPhones & Telecom

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