余额 (yú é) — (bank account, credit card, phone) balance; (fi… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

余额 is the 'balance' left in an account — bank, phone, or bill. Compared with 其余 ('the rest', for people or things) and 剩余 ('what remains', often used as a verb), 余额 is specifically the leftover amount of money or units.

noun

(bank account, credit card, phone) balance(financial) surplusremaining funds

Examples

，余额余额。
Wǒ chá le yí xià yín háng kǎ, yú é hái yǒu duō shǎo yú é.
I checked how much balance I have left.
余额。
Nǐ de shǒu jī yú é kuài yòng wán le.
Your mobile phone balance is almost used up.
余额。
Jīn nián gōng sī de yú é bǐ qù nián duō le bù shǎo.
The company's surplus this year is much larger than last year's.

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.

余yúremaining

额éamount

余 gives “remaining” and 额 gives “amount,” so the word means the amount left.

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 餘; 余 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú餘Yú

Same sound today

The traditional form 餘 pairs 食 (food) with 余 as its sound part; the simplified 余 is a later abbreviation.

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 額; 额 is its simplified writing.

客頁額

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

客

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 額 combines 頁 (head), which points to the meaning, with 客, which gives the sound. The simplified 额 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Finance & Banking

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