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有利 (yǒu lì) — advantageous, favorable

Definition

有利 means 'advantageous, favorable' and stresses a strategic edge or benefit, stronger than 良好 ('just good'). Pairs naturally with 对 + noun. Opposite is 不利.

adjective
advantageousfavorable
Easily confused

Examples

  • 有利。
    Měi tiān yùn dòng duì jiàn kāng hěn yǒu lì.
    Exercising every day is very good for your health.
  • 有利。
    Zhè ge jì huà duì gōng sī fā zhǎn hěn yǒu lì.
    This plan is favorable to the company's growth.
  • 有利。
    Hǎo tiān qì duì bǐ sài hěn yǒu lì.
    Good weather is advantageous for the competition.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

有yǒuhave
利lìbenefit

有 (have) and 利 (benefit) combine: having benefit, so advantageous.

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

利 combines 禾 (grain) and 刀 (knife), showing a knife used to cut grain.

Open 利 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Good & Bad5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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