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宜居 (yí jū) — livable

Definition

宜居 describes a place (city, community, home) where daily life is comfortable — focus is on living conditions, not scenery. 宜人 is more about pleasant atmosphere or weather.

adjective
livable

Examples

  • 宜居，。
    Zhè ge chéng shì hěn yí jū, shì hé yǎng lǎo.
    This city is very livable and suitable for retirement.
  • 宜居。
    yí jū De shè qū xū yào hǎo de gōng gòng fú wù.
    A livable community needs good public services.
  • ，宜居。
    Zhè lǐ xià tiān liáng shuǎng, fēi cháng yí jū.
    The summers here are cool, making it very livable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

宜yísuitable
居jūliving

宜 expresses suitability, and 居 is living or dwelling, so the whole means fit for living.

Characters in this word

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

宜 shows 且, a sacrificial altar, with 多, two pieces of meat, depicting two pieces of meat placed on the altar.

Open 宜 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
尸尸shī
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ居jū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

居 is built from 尸 as the meaning part and 古 (gǔ) as the sound part.

Open 居 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Home & Housing

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.