征税 (zhēng shuì) — to levy taxes, to collect taxes

Definition

A formal verb meaning the government 'levies / collects taxes'. Used in official and written contexts, not everyday speech about paying one's own taxes (that's 交税/缴税).

verb
to levy taxesto collect taxes

Examples

  • 征税。
    Zhèng fǔ měi nián dōu huì zhēng shuì.
    The government levies taxes every year.
  • 。
    Jīn nián yǐ jīng zhēng le liǎng cì shuì le.
    This year, taxes have already been collected twice.
  • 征税。
    Shuì wù jú fù zé zhēng shuì.
    The tax bureau is responsible for collecting taxes.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

征zhēnglevy
税shuìtaxes

征 is to levy, and 税 is taxes: to levy taxes.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徵; 征 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 征 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (特征, 象征) it is 徵; in others it is 征.

The story is about the traditional form 徵. It originally meant punishment, from a picture of a knife with tooth-shaped protrusions on its back; later forms kept that sense.

Open 征 →

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
兑
兑duì税shuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

税 pairs 禾, a grain plant, with 兑, which gives the character its sound.

Open 税 →

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