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变质 (biàn zhì) — (of food) to go bad, to spoil; to degenerate, to deteriorate (of relationships, situations, quality, etc.)

Definition

变质 covers both senses: food going bad and non-food things (relationships, quality, situations) deteriorating. Compared to 恶化, which is used only for situations getting worse, 变质 also applies to physical spoilage.

verb
(of food) to go badto spoilto degenerateto deteriorate (of relationships, situations, quality, etc.)

Examples

  • ，变质。
    Niú nǎi fàng tài jiǔ le, yǐ jīng biàn zhì le.
    The milk has been left out too long and has already gone bad.
  • 变质。
    Zhè cì shì gù ràng tā men de hé zuò guān xì biàn zhì le.
    This accident caused their cooperative relationship to deteriorate.
  • ，变质。
    Rú guǒ yuán cái liào yǒu wèn tí, chǎn pǐn róng yì biàn zhì.
    If the raw materials are problematic, the products will easily spoil.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

变biànchange
质zhìquality

The first part means to change and the second means quality, so together they mean quality has changed and something has spoiled.

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 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌變biàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

Open 变 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 質; 质 is its simplified writing.

  • 斦斦yín
  • 貝貝bèi

The traditional form 質 is made up of 貝 and 斦; this describes 質, not the simplified 质.

Open 质 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Change & ProcessFood (General)

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