省掉 (shěng diào) — to save (by omitting or cutting out), to skip, to eliminate

Definition

省掉 means to cut out or skip something as a way to save (time, money, effort). Pairs with expenses, steps, or routines rather than physical objects.

verb
to save (by omitting or cutting out)to skipto eliminate

Examples

  • ，省掉。
    Wèi le shěng qián, wǒ men shěng diào le wǔ fàn.
    To save money, we skipped lunch.
  • 省掉，。
    Zhè ge bù zhòu kě yǐ shěng diào, bù yǐng xiǎng jié guǒ.
    This step can be omitted; it doesn't affect the result.
  • 省掉。
    Tā shěng diào le hěn duō bú bì yào de kāi zhī.
    He cut out a lot of unnecessary expenses.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

省shěngsave/omit
掉diàooff

省 gives saving or omitting; 掉 adds the sense of removing, so it means to cut out.

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.

The upper part of 省 is a changed form of 生, which gave the sound, while the lower 目 is an eye; the picture showed looking closely or inspecting.

Open 省 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
卓
卓zhuó掉diào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

掉 is built from 扌 (a hand) and 卓, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 掉 →

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