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家伙 (jiā huo) — (colloquial) guy, fellow, character; (colloquial) thing, tool, weapon

Definition

Colloquial noun with two distinct uses: a casual 'guy / fellow' (more informal than 男生), and a vague 'thing / tool / gadget'. Often slightly dismissive or jokey in tone.

noun
(colloquial) guyfellowcharacter(colloquial) thingtoolweapon
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 家伙。
    Nà jiā huo zhēn gòu yì si.
    That guy is really a good friend.
  • ，？
    Nǐ zhè jiā huo, zěn me cái lái?
    You, buddy, why are you only showing up now?
  • 家伙？。
    Zhè shì shén me jiā huo? wǒ cóng lái méi jiàn guò.
    What kind of thing is this? I've never seen it before.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

家jiā
伙huǒ

The characters 家伙 work as one word for a guy or tool, with no separate meanings here.

Sound-only characters

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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 夥; 伙 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 伙 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (大伙儿, 伙) it is 夥; in others (小伙子) it is 伙.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
多多duō
Sound part声符shēngfú
果
果guǒ夥huǒ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 夥 combines 多 (many) with 果 as a sound part. The simplified 伙 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 伙 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 61000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsMiscellaneous ObjectsPeople (General)

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