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运费 (yùn fèi) — shipping fee, freight charge

Definition

运费 is the fee charged for shipping goods. Pairs with 货运 (the freight transport activity itself); 话费 is phone charges, unrelated despite the shared 费.

noun
shipping feefreight charge

Examples

  • 运费。
    Wǎng gòu shí yí dìng yào kàn qīng chǔ yùn fèi shì duō shǎo.
    When shopping online, be sure to see what the shipping fee is.
  • 运费。
    Zhè jiā diàn de yùn fèi bǐ qí tā jiā pián yi hěn duō.
    This store's shipping fee is much cheaper than other stores.
  • 运费。
    Zhōng guó de guó nèi yùn fèi yì bān bú tài guì.
    Domestic shipping in China is usually not too expensive.

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.

运yùntransport
费fèifee

运 means transport and 费 means fee, together naming a freight fee.

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 運; 运 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòmotion
Sound part声符shēngfú
軍
軍jūn運yùn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 運 combines 辵, meaning motion, with 軍 to give the sound; the simplified 运 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 运 →

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 5

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