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家常 (jiā cháng) — the daily life of a family; domestic trivia

Definition

家常 refers to the everyday matters of family life — meals, chat, routines. Used as an adjective in 家常菜 ('home-style cooking'); distinct from 家庭 (the family unit itself) and 家务 (the chores you do).

noun
the daily life of a familydomestic trivia

Examples

  • 家常。
    Wǒ men jīng cháng zài diàn huà lǐ liáo jiā cháng.
    We often chat about family matters on the phone.
  • 。
    Mā ma zuò de jiā cháng cài bǐ fàn diàn de hái hǎo chī.
    Mom's home-style cooking is even better than restaurant food.
  • 家常。
    Guò nián shí quán jiā rén zuò zài yì qǐ lā jiā cháng.
    During the New Year, the whole family sits together and chats about family matters.

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.

家jiāfamily
常chángeveryday

家 means family, 常 means everyday; together they refer to a family's daily life.

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
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng常cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

常 pairs 巾, a cloth, with 尚 as a sound part; the form originally referred to a lower garment.

Open 常 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Daily RoutineFamily & Kinship

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