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面试 (miàn shì) — to interview (a candidate); to have an interview; to be interviewed

Definition

面试 is a job interview — both the candidate being interviewed and the employer doing the interviewing. Contrast with 采访/访谈, which are journalist-style interviews.

verb
to interview (a candidate)to have an interviewto be interviewed

Examples

  • 面试。
    Wǒ xià ge xīng qī yào qù miàn shì.
    I'm going for an interview next week.
  • 。
    Wǒ jīn tiān shàng wǔ miàn le yí gè shì.
    I had an interview this morning.
  • 面试。
    Jīng lǐ jīn tiān xià wǔ miàn shì yí gè xīn yuán gōng.
    The manager is interviewing a new employee this afternoon.

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.

面miànface
试shìtest

面 gives face-to-face, and 试 means testing; it means a face-to-face test.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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 試; 试 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
式
式shì試shì
Same sound today

The traditional form 試 puts 言 beside 式, and 式 gives the sound; the simplified 试 is the form of this character.

Open 试 →
Appears in
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