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好处 (hǎo chù) — benefit, advantage; favor (as in giving someone a personal advantage)

Definition

好处 covers both the general sense 'benefit, advantage' and a personal 'favor' (帮助别人的好处). 优点 is a fixed merit of a thing; 利益 is more formal and material, often self-interest.

noun
benefitadvantagefavor (as in giving someone a personal advantage)

Examples

  • 好处。
    Zhè zhǒng fāng fǎ yǒu hěn duō hǎo chù.
    This method has many benefits.
  • 好处。
    Tā wèi le zì jǐ de hǎo chù zuò le zhè jiàn shì.
    He did this for his own benefit.
  • ，好处。
    Nǐ bāng wǒ zhè ge máng, wǒ huì jì zhù nǐ de hǎo chù.
    If you do me this favor, I will remember your kindness.

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.

好hǎogood
处chùpoint

好 means good and 处 means a point or aspect, giving a good point or benefit.

Characters in this word

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

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

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
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