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家教 (jiā jiào) — family upbringing, home education; private tutor

Definition

家教 has two distinct senses: 'family upbringing/home education' (how a child is raised, broader than 教养, which focuses on refinement), and 'private tutor' (a hired one-on-one teacher). Only the second takes a 请/工作 verb.

noun
family upbringinghome educationprivate tutor
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 家教。
    Yán gé de jiā jiào duì tā yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
    Strict family upbringing had a big influence on him.
  • 家教。
    Tā xiǎng gěi ér zi qǐng yí wèi jiā jiào.
    She wants to hire a private tutor for her son.
  • 家教。
    Zhè ge jiā jiào gōng zuò hěn bú cuò.
    This tutoring job is quite good.

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
教jiàoeducation

家 points to family or home, and 教 points to education or teaching.

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
子子zǐchild
攵Written in full as攴pūteaching cane; stick that represents authority
Sound part声符shēngfú
爻
爻yáo教jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

教 uses 爻 for its sound and puts 子 (child) with 攵 (攴), a teaching cane, to show teaching a child.

Open 教 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Family & KinshipProfessions & Jobs

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