修理费 (xiū lǐ fèi) — repair cost, repair fee

Definition

noun
repair costrepair fee

Examples

  • 修理费。
    Zhè cì de xiū lǐ fèi tài gāo le.
    This repair cost is too high.
  • 修理费？
    Nǐ wèn guò xiū lǐ fèi shì duō shǎo ma?
    Did you ask how much the repair fee is?
  • 修理费。
    Tā men shōu le wǔ bǎi kuài de xiū lǐ fèi.
    They charged a repair fee of 500 yuan.

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.

修理repair
修xiūrepair理lǐarrange
联合Side by side
费fèicharge

修理 means repair; 费 is a charge, so the word is a charge for repairs.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
攸
攸yōu修xiū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

修 is built from 攸, which gives the sound, and 彡, a set of three strokes that shows the meaning.

Open 修 →

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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 →

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