学费 (xué fèi) — tuition (fee) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Tuition: the specific fee paid for schooling. 费用 is the general word for any cost or fee (rent, phone bill, etc.), while 学费 is locked to education.

noun

tuition (fee)

Measure word · 个

学费。
Zhè suǒ xué xiào de xué fèi hěn guì.
The tuition at this school is very expensive.
学费。
Wǒ měi nián jiāo yí cì xué fèi.
I pay tuition once a year.
学费。
Zhè ge dà xué de xué fèi bǐ nà ge dà xué guì.
The tuition at this university is more expensive than that one.

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.

学 “study” and 费 “fee” together mean the fee paid for studying.

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 學; 学 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 學 may have used 爻 and 六 for sound, with hands and a child added later; the simplified 学 is a shorthand.

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

弗貝費

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèicowry

Sound part声符shēngfú

弗

弗fú費fèi

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

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