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舍得 (shě de) — to be willing to part with; to not begrudge

Definition

舍得 means 'willing to give something up or spend' — a positive, deliberate choice. Its sibling 舍不得 is the opposite: reluctant to part with. 不惜 is similar but stronger and more written, meaning 'to spare no effort/cost'.

verb
to be willing to part withto not begrudge

Examples

  • 舍得。
    Tā shě de huā qián mǎi shū.
    He is willing to spend money on books.
  • 舍得。
    Tā bú shě de lí kāi jiā.
    She can't bear to leave home.
  • 舍得？
    Nǐ shě de mài zhè liàng chē ma?
    Are you willing to sell this car?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

舍shègive up
得déable

舍 means give up, and 得 adds the sense of being able, so the sense is not begrudging something.

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú舍shè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

舍 is 余 plus 口. 余 was the original picture for this word, and 口 was later added to distinguish it.

Open 舍 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Will & Intention

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