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兴趣 (xìng qù) — (noun) interest (a feeling of wanting to know or learn about something); (noun) hobby (something one enjoys doing in free time)

Definition

兴趣 names the inner feeling of wanting to know or do something — say 你对什么有兴趣? rather than 爱好. 爱好 is the activity itself (a hobby); 兴趣 is the liking behind it.

noun
interest (a feeling of wanting to know or learn about something)hobby (something one enjoys doing in free time)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 兴趣。
    Wǒ de xìng qù shì kàn shū.
    My hobby is reading.
  • 兴趣。
    Tā duì yīn yuè yǒu xìng qù.
    He has an interest in music.
  • 兴趣？
    Nǐ yǒu shén me xìng qù?
    What are your interests?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

兴xīnginterest
趣qùtaste

It joins 兴, a feeling of liking, with 趣, a taste, to mean interest.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 興; 兴 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 興 shows four hands lifting an object; the simplified 兴 is not the form described.

Open 兴 →

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
走走zǒuwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
取
取qǔ趣qù
Same sound today

趣 has 走, showing walking or hurrying, and 取, which gives the sound; the shape points to moving toward something.

Open 趣 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHobbies & Pastimes2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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