杂活 (zá huó) — odd jobs, miscellaneous chores

Definition

杂活 (zá huó) refers to small, varied chores or odd jobs — the everyday, low-skill tasks like cleaning, fixing, or running errands. 干活 means 'to do work/odd jobs' (verb phrase), while 杂活 is the noun phrase 'odd jobs/miscellaneous chores' themselves.

noun

odd jobsmiscellaneous chores

Examples

杂活。
Tā měi tiān dōu yào zuò hěn duō zá huó.
He has to do a lot of odd jobs every day.
杂活，。
Zhè xiē zá huó suī rán lèi, dàn néng zhuàn diǎn qián.
These odd jobs are tiring, but can earn some money.
杂活，。
Wǒ zhōu mò zài jiā gān zá huó, bǐ rú dǎ sǎo fáng jiān.
I do odd jobs at home on weekends, like cleaning rooms.

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.

杂zámiscellaneous

活huówork

杂 miscellaneous and 活 work combine to mean odd jobs.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

衣衣yī

Sound part声符shēngfú

集

集jí雜zá

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

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

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

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

𠯑

𠯑𠯑活huó

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

活 is built from 氵 (water) and 𠯑, which shows the sound; 𠯑 later changed into 舌.

Open 活 →

Appears in

Cleaning & Chores