课余 (kè yú) — spare time after class; extracurricular hours

Definition

noun

spare time after classextracurricular hours

课余。
Tā lì yòng kè yú shí jiān xué xí zhōng wén.
He uses his spare time after class to study Chinese.
课余。
Xué xiào ān pái le hěn duō kè yú huó dòng.
The school arranges many extracurricular activities.
课余。
kè yú Wǒ xǐ huan qù tú shū guǎn kàn shū.
After class I like to go to the library and read.

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.

余yúremaining

“课” gives class and “余” gives remaining time, so it means spare time after class.

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 課; 课 is its simplified writing.

言果課

Meaning part形符xíngfú

言言yánto say

Sound part声符shēngfú

果

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

The traditional form 課 pairs 言 (to say) with 果 as a sound part; the simplified 课 is a shorthand and its right side is not a sound part.

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 餘; 余 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

Same sound today

The traditional form 餘 pairs 食 (food) with 余 as its sound part; the simplified 余 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in