交费 (jiāo fèi) — to pay a fee, to pay a charge

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning 'to pay a fee / charge' (费用, 学费, 物业费). Focus is on submitting payment for a service or membership, not buying goods.

verb

to pay a feeto pay a charge

交费。
Nǐ jì de měi gè yuè àn shí jiāo fèi.
Remember to pay the fee on time every month.
。
Wǒ zuó tiān jiāo le yì nián de wù yè fèi.
I paid the property fee for one year yesterday.
交费，。
Zhè ge yuè hái méi jiāo fèi, kuài qù bàn lǐ ba.
You haven't paid this month's fee yet, go take care of it quickly.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

交 gives pay, and 费 gives fee, making pay a fee.

Characters in this word

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

交 originally drew a human with crossed legs. In the modern shape, the upper part resembles a standing person.

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.

弗貝費

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.

Appears in