售货 (shòu huò) — to sell goods (as a job or in a retail setting)

Definition

售货 is a formal/retail-context way to say 'sell goods', used as a verb phrase rather than a standalone job title. Pairs with 员 to form the job noun 售货员 ('salesperson/salesclerk'), common in older or formal usage.

verb
to sell goods (as a job or in a retail setting)

Examples

  • 售货，。
    Tā zài chāo shì shòu huò, gōng zuò hěn xīn kǔ.
    He sells goods at the supermarket; the work is hard.
  • ，。
    Jīn tiān tā shòu le sān cì huò, dōu hěn shùn lì.
    Today he sold goods three times, and all went smoothly.
  • 。
    Zhè jiā diàn de shòu huò yuán tài dù fēi cháng hǎo.
    The salesperson at this store has a very good attitude.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

售shòusell
货huògoods

售 expresses selling and 货 expresses goods, together meaning to sell goods.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 售 →

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 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell, money
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà貨huò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Open 货 →

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