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商业 (shāng yè) — business, trade, commerce

Definition

商业 refers to business and commerce as a whole sector or field (as in 商业管理 'business management'). 生意 is a single shop or deal; 贸易 is cross-border trade; 业务 is a company's specific line of work.

noun
businesstradecommerce

Examples

  • 商业。
    Tā zài yì jiā shāng yè gōng sī gōng zuò.
    He works at a business company.
  • 商业。
    Zhè ge dì qū de shāng yè fā zhǎn hěn kuài.
    Business development in this region is very fast.
  • 商业。
    Tā dà xué xué de shì shāng yè guǎn lǐ.
    He studied business management in college.

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.

商shāngtrade
业yèbusiness; industry

商 points to trade, and 业 is the business or industry, together meaning commerce.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 商 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Business & Commerce5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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