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转行 (zhuǎn háng) — to change profession, to switch careers

Definition

转行 (zhuǎn háng) means to change your profession or career, moving from one industry or job type to another. It describes the career shift itself, not a single workplace change.

verb
to change professionto switch careers

Examples

  • ，转行。
    Tā zuò le shí nián kuài jì, qù nián zhōng yú zhuǎn háng le.
    He worked as an accountant for ten years, and finally changed careers last year.
  • 转行，。
    Wǒ kǎo lǜ guò liǎng cì zhuǎn háng, dàn dōu méi xià dìng jué xīn.
    I've considered switching careers twice, but never made up my mind.
  • IT，。
    Tā cóng IT zhuǎn dào jīn róng, zhè cì zhuǎn háng hěn chéng gōng.
    He switched from IT to finance, and this career change was very successful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

转zhuǎnchange
行xíngprofession

转 (change) and 行 (profession) mean moving from one profession to another.

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →
Appears in
Professions & Jobs

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