Definition
省 (shěng) means 'to save' (money/time/resources) or 'to omit/leave out' (words/steps). As 'to save', it's a close synonym of 节省 (jiéshěng) but slightly more colloquial and versatile; 节省 often emphasizes using sparingly. As 'to omit', it overlaps with 省略 (shěnglüè) but is less formal and often used with 掉 (diào) as a result complement.
verb
to saveto economizeto omitto leave out
Easily confused
- 吵chǎolook-alike(verb) to quarrel; to argue
- 生shēngsound-aliketo give birth to
- 抄chāolook-aliketo copy, to transcribe; to plagiarize
- 生shēngsound-aliketo give birth; to be born
- 妙miàolook-alikeclever; wonderful; ingenious
- 声shēngsound-alike(noun) sound, voice, noise
- 剩shèngsound-aliketo be left; to remain
- 胜shèngsound-aliketo win; to defeat
- 升shēngsound-aliketo rise, to go up; to increase (temperature, prices, etc.)
- 升shēngsound-alike(classifier) liter (unit of volume)
Examples
- 省。Zhège yuè wǒ yào shěng yì diǎn qián.I want to save a little money this month.
- 省。Zuò huǒchē bǐ zuò fēijī shěng hěnduō qián.Taking the train saves a lot of money compared to flying.
- ，。Xiě zuòwén shí, zhège lìzi kěyǐ shěng diào.When writing an essay, this example can be omitted.
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