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失业 (shī yè) — to lose one's job, to be unemployed

Definition

失业 means 'to lose one's job' — the opposite of 就业 ('to get a job'). Use it for the state of becoming or being unemployed, often with 因为 or a time phrase.

verb
to lose one's jobto be unemployed

Examples

  • 失业。
    Tā shī yè yǐ hòu yì zhí zài jiā xiū xi.
    After losing his job, he has been resting at home.
  • 失业。
    Hěn duō rén yīn wèi jīng jì bù hǎo ér shī yè.
    Many people lost their jobs because the economy is bad.
  • ？失业。
    Nǐ zhǎo dào xīn gōng zuò le ma? wǒ shī yè le bàn nián.
    Have you found a new job? I've been unemployed for half a year.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

失shīlose
业yèjob

'失' means lose and '业' means job, so it describes losing one's job.

Characters in this word

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

The shape is explained as a fallen person's footprint surrounded by drops of blood; another reading pairs 手 (hand) and 乙 to show something falling from a hand.

Open 失 →

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 5Workplace & Office5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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