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托儿所 (tuō er suǒ) — nursery (childcare facility for infants and toddlers)

Definition

noun
nursery (childcare facility for infants and toddlers)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 托儿所。
    Wǒ měi tiān bā diǎn sòng hái zi qù tuō er suǒ.
    I take my child to nursery at eight every day.
  • 托儿所。
    Tā zài zhè jiā tuō er suǒ gōng zuò le hěn duō nián.
    She has worked at this nursery for many years.
  • 托儿所，。
    tuō er suǒ Jiù zài wǒ jiā lóu xià, fēi cháng fāng biàn.
    The nursery is right downstairs from my home, very convenient.

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.

托儿
托tuōentrust儿érchild
动宾Verb + object
所suǒplace

托 means to entrust and 儿 means child, while 所 means place, giving the sense of a place where children are entrusted.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
乇
乇tuō托tuō
Same sound today

托 is built from 手 (hand) and 乇, which gives the sound tuō.

Open 托 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →
Appears in
Life Stages & AgeSchool & Education

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