政府 (zhèng fǔ) — government

Definition

政府 is the noun for 'the government' as an institution (the ruling body of a country). It refers to the organization itself, while 政治 is 'politics' as an activity or field of study, and 官方 means 'official / authoritative' (often as an adjective).

noun
government
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 政府
    zhèng fǔ Yīng gāi wèi gōng mín tí gōng gèng hǎo de fú wù.
    The government should provide better services for citizens.
  • Xīn zhèng fǔ tuī chū le yí xiàng zhòng yào de zhèng cè.
    The new government launched an important policy.
  • 政府
    Shì mín xiàng zhèng fǔ fǎn yìng le jiāo tōng wèn tí.
    Citizens reported traffic problems to the government.

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.

zhènggovernment affairs
office

政 is government affairs, and 府 is an office, so 政府 is the office of government.

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
action
Sound part声符shēngfú
zhèngzhèng
Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related part.

Open 政 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
Same sound today

府 shows a type of building with 广, while 付 gives the character its sound.

Open 府 →

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