差 (chà) — (adjective) poor, inferior, not up to standard; (adjective) wrong, mistaken; (verb) to be short of, to lack
Definition
With tone chà it covers two main uses: as an adjective meaning 'wrong' (你写差了, like 错误) or 'poor/inferior', and as a verb meaning 'to be short of' (还差两块钱, like 缺). Don't confuse it with the other tone chā meaning 'different'.
adjective
poorinferiornot up to standardwrongmistaken
verb
to be short ofto lack
Examples
- 差。Zhè ge shǒu jī hěn chà.This phone is very poor.
- 差。Hái chà liǎng kuài qián.Still short two yuan.
- 差。Nǐ xiě chà le.You wrote it wrong.
Origin
Compound ideograph六书liùshū
会意huìyìTwo or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.
- 來來láiwheat
- 𠂇𠂇𠂇left hand
差 pairs 來 (wheat) with 𠂇 (left hand), showing wheat rubbed in a hand to remove its hull.
Grammar
Appears in
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