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干部 (gàn bù) — cadre; government official; leading member (of a work unit, party organ, or state enterprise)

Definition

干部 specifically refers to a leading official in a party/state organization — more political and institutional than 经理 ('company manager'). Unlike general terms like 官 or 官员, it emphasizes an administrative role within the party-state system.

noun
cadregovernment officialleading member (of a work unit, party organ, or state enterprise)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 干部。
    Zhè wèi gàn bù zài dān wèi lǐ hěn yǒu wēi xìn.
    This cadre is very respected in the work unit.
  • 干部。
    Cūn lǐ suǒ yǒu de gàn bù dōu cān jiā le zhè cì péi xùn.
    All the cadres in the village attended this training.
  • 干部，。
    Zuò wéi gàn bù, tā shǐ zhōng bǎ qún zhòng lì yì fàng zài shǒu wèi.
    As a cadre, he always puts the interests of the people first.

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.

干gānstem
部bùpart

干 and 部 evoke the stem and parts of an organization; officials are named by metaphor from that image.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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
邑邑yì
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu部bù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

部 pairs 咅, which gives the sound, with 邑. It originally named a place in today's Gansu.

Open 部 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Government & PoliticsProfessions & Jobs

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