维修费 (wéi xiū fèi) — maintenance cost, upkeep fee

Definition

noun
maintenance costupkeep fee

Examples

  • 维修费。
    Zhè liàng chē de wéi xiū fèi měi nián dōu zài zhǎng.
    The maintenance cost of this car goes up every year.
  • 维修费。
    Fáng dōng shuō wéi xiū fèi yóu zū hù chéng dān.
    The landlord said the upkeep fee is borne by the tenant.
  • 维修费。
    Gōng sī bǎ wéi xiū fèi liè rù le nián dù yù suàn.
    The company included the maintenance cost in the annual budget.

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.

维修maintenance
维wéimaintain修xiūrepair
联合Side by side
费fèifee

维修 joins maintain and repair, and 费 names the cost of that work.

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 維; 维 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
唯
唯wéi維wéi
Same sound today

In the traditional form 維, 糸 marks a thread meaning and 唯 provides the sound; the simplified 维 is a later shortened shape.

Open 维 →

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
攸yōu修xiū
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.

Open 修 →

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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