汽油费 (qì yóu fèi) — gasoline expense; petrol cost

Definition

noun
gasoline expensepetrol cost

Examples

  • 汽油费。
    Zhè ge yuè de qì yóu fèi bǐ shàng ge yuè gāo le hěn duō.
    This month's gasoline expense is much higher than last month's.
  • 汽油费。
    Gōng sī bào xiāo le suǒ yǒu de qì yóu fèi.
    The company reimbursed all the gasoline costs.
  • 汽油费。
    Tā měi gè yuè yào huā bù shǎo qián zài qì yóu fèi shàng.
    He spends quite a bit on gasoline fees every month.

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.

汽油gasoline
汽qìsteam油yóuoil
偏正Modifier + head
费fèiexpense

汽油 means gasoline, and 费 means expense, so the word is the cost of gasoline.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì汽
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.

Open 汽 →

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
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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 費; 费 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
弗
弗fú費fèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 費 has 貝, a cowry shell, and 弗, which gives a sound; the simplified 费 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 费 →

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