广告费 (guǎng gào fèi) — advertising expenses, advertising fees

Definition

noun
advertising expensesadvertising fees
Measure word · 笔

Examples

  • 广告费。
    Gōng sī de guǎng gào fèi hěn gāo.
    The company's advertising expenses are very high.
  • 广告费。
    Jīn nián de guǎng gào fèi yù suàn yǐ jīng yòng wán le.
    This year's advertising budget has been used up.
  • 广告费。
    Wǒ men xū yào jiàng dī guǎng gào fèi.
    We need to reduce advertising costs.

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.

广告advertisement
广guǎngbroad告gàonotice
偏正Modifier + head
费fèifee

广告 (broadly announced information) and 费 (fee) combine to mean the charge for advertising.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 廣; 广 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎng
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng廣guǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 廣 combines 广 (meaning part) with 黃 (sound part); the simplified 广 is a later shorthand, not the full historical shape.

Open 广 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The origin is unclear: one theory sees 告 as 壴 (a decorated drum) above 口 (an open mouth), while another sees a tongue sticking out of 口.

Open 告 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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