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职场 (zhí chǎng) — workplace, professional environment

Definition

职场 refers to the workplace as a social environment — its culture, rules, and relationships — not a job title (that's 职业) or the people who work there (that's 职工).

noun
workplaceprofessional environment
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 职场，。
    Tā gāng jìn rù zhí chǎng, hái xū yào màn màn shì yìng.
    He just entered the workplace and still needs to slowly adapt.
  • 职场。
    zhí chǎng Zhōng de rén jì guān xì hěn fù zá.
    Interpersonal relationships in the workplace are very complicated.
  • 职场。
    Hěn duō dà xué shēng duì zhí chǎng guī zé bú tài liǎo jiě.
    Many college students don't know much about workplace rules.

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.

职zhíwork/job
场chǎngplace

职 (work/job) specifies the kind of 场 (place), giving a professional environment.

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 職; 职 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
戠
戠zhí職zhí
Same sound today

The traditional form 職 pairs 耳 (ear) with 戠, which gives its sound; the simplified 职 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 职 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Workplace & Office

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.