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休假 (xiū jià) — to take vacation, to go on holiday, to take leave

Definition

Take vacation or leave (from work), usually planned. Pair with 休息 for daily rest; 放假 is an official non-working day, 请假 is requesting time off, 度假 is traveling on holiday.

verb
to take vacationto go on holidayto take leave

Examples

  • 休假？
    Nǐ dǎ suàn shén me shí hou xiū jià?
    When do you plan to take vacation?
  • 。
    Wǒ qù nián xiū le wǔ tiān jiǎ.
    I took five days off last year.
  • 休假。
    Zhè cì xiū jià ràng wǒ hěn fàng sōng.
    This vacation made me very relaxed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

休xiūtake leave
假jiǎholiday

The action 休 (take leave) concerns a 假 (holiday), giving take vacation.

Characters in this word

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

休 pairs 人 (man) with 木 (tree), showing a person leaning against a tree to rest.

Open 休 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Festivals & Holidays

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