赔本 (péi běn) — to lose money (in business), to run at a loss

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to lose money on a deal' — 赔本生意 (loss-making business). Pairs with 经营 and 卖 to describe running or selling at a loss.

verb

to lose money (in business)to run at a loss

赔本。
péi běn De shēng yì méi rén yuàn yì zuò.
No one wants to do a business that loses money.
。
Tā zuò zhè háng péi le hǎo jǐ cì běn.
He has lost money many times in this line of work.
赔本。
Zhè jiā diàn yì zhí zài péi běn jīng yíng.
This store has been operating at a loss.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

赔 means lose and 本 means capital, meaning losing money in business.

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 賠; 赔 is its simplified writing.

貝咅賠

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell; money

Sound part声符shēngfú

咅

咅pǒu賠péi

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 賠, 貝 (shell; money) shows the idea of making amends, and 咅 supplies the sound; the simplified 赔 is a later shorthand.

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.