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办事处 (bàn shì chù) — office; agency

Definition

办事处 is a small local office, often a branch or outpost (e.g. a company's regional office, a 街道 subdistrict office). It handles affairs on the spot — unlike 事务所 (a professional firm like a law office) or 办公室 (a general workplace office).

noun
officeagency
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 办事处。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī zài běi jīng shè yǒu yí gè bàn shì chù.
    This company has an office in Beijing.
  • 办事处。
    Dà shǐ guǎn de bàn shì chù fù zé qiān zhèng yè wù.
    The embassy's office handles visa services.
  • 。
    Wǒ men xū yào qù jiē dào bàn shì chù bàn lǐ shǒu xù.
    We need to go to the subdistrict office to handle the procedures.

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.

办事handle affairs
办bànhandle事shìaffairs
动宾Verb + object
处chùoffice

The part “办” means handle, “事” means affairs, and “处” means office; together they denote an office for handling affairs.

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 辦; 办 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
辡
辡biàn辦bàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 辦 combines 力 (strength) with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 办 is a later shorthand.

Open 办 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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 處; 处 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
夂夂zhǐ
几几jǐtable
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū處chǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 處 pairs 虍, giving the sound, with 夂 and 几, a table, as meaning parts. The simplified 处 is a shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 处 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Workplace & Office

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