家家户户 (jiā jiā hù hù) — each and every family; every household

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'every household (without exception)'. Compare 千家万户 (also 'every family', more literary/large-scale) — 家家户户 is the everyday, spoken phrasing.

noun

each and every familyevery household

Examples

，家家户户。
Chūn jié de shí hou, jiā jiā hù hù dōu huì tiē chūn lián.
During the Spring Festival, every household pastes up spring couplets.
家家户户。
Zhè ge zhèng cè ràng jiā jiā hù hù dōu shòu yì le.
This policy has benefited every household.
家家户户。
Cūn lǐ jiā jiā hù hù dōu zhǒng le guǒ shù.
Every family in the village has planted fruit trees.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

家家families

家jiāfamily家jiāfamily

户户households

户hùhousehold户hùhousehold

家 means family and 户 means household; both appear twice to mean every household.

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.

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.

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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6

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