汽修 (qì xiū) — auto repair | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Short for 汽车修理, 'auto repair' — used as a noun for the trade or the work itself (汽修厂, 汽修费用), not a specific action.

noun

auto repair

Measure word · 个

汽修。
Wǒ bà ba zài qì xiū chǎng gōng zuò.
My father works at an auto repair shop.
汽修。
Zhè liàng chē de qì xiū fèi yòng hěn gāo.
The auto repair cost for this car is very high.
汽修。
Tā xué le sān nián qì xiū jì shù.
He studied auto repair techniques for three years.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

汽qìmotor vehicle

汽修 means motor vehicle repair, drawing on 汽 and 修 for vehicle and repair.

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.

氵气汽

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

气

Same sound today

The 氵 part is water, and 气 is used for the sound and also means air, so 汽 shows water in an air-like form.

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

彡彡shān

Sound part声符shēngfú

攸

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

修 is built from 攸, which gives the sound, and 彡, a set of three strokes that shows the meaning.