有救 (yǒu jiù) — curable, can be saved (of a person or situation)

Definition

有救 (yǒu jiù) means a bad situation or illness 'can still be saved' — used to encourage someone that things aren't hopeless. Often paired with 还 ('still') or 别灰心 ('don't lose heart').

verb

curablecan be saved (of a person or situation)

Examples

，。
Tā de bìng hái yǒu jiù, yī shēng zhèng zài xiǎng bàn fǎ.
His illness is still curable; the doctor is thinking of a way.
，，。
Suī rán zhè cì méi kǎo hǎo, dàn hái yǒu jiù, xià cì nǔ lì jiù xíng.
Although this exam didn't go well, there's still hope — just work hard next time.
，。
Bié huī xīn, shì qing hái yǒu jiù.
Don't lose heart; the situation can still be saved.

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

救jiùsave

有 means to have, and 救 means to save, so 有救 says a situation still has a way to be saved.

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 →

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

求

求qiú救jiù

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Open 救 →

Appears in

Medicine & Treatment