暑假 (shǔ jià) — summer vacation | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

暑假 is the school summer break (a vacation period), not the season itself — that is 夏天. Pairs with 寒假, the parallel winter break.

noun

summer vacation

Measure word · 个

暑假。
Wǒ shǔ jià xiǎng qù běi jīng lǚ yóu.
I want to travel to Beijing during summer vacation.
暑假。
shǔ jià Yǒu liǎng gè yuè de shí jiān.
Summer vacation lasts two months.
暑假？
Nǐ shǔ jià dǎ suàn zuò shén me?
What do you plan to do during summer vacation?

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.

暑shǔsummer heat

假jiǎvacation

暑 names the hot summer season, and 假 means vacation, so together they give summer vacation.

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.

日者暑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

暑 is built from 日, which carries the meaning, and 者, which carries the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻叚假

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

叚

叚jiǎ假jiǎ

Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

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