谋事 (móu shì) — to plan matters, to make arrangements; to look for a job, to seek a position

Definition

A formal verb covering two senses: planning matters and arranging affairs, and also seeking employment. The ‘seeking a job’ sense often appears in the set phrase 谋事在人 (success depends on one's own effort).

verb
to plan mattersto make arrangementsto look for a jobto seek a position
Easily confused

Examples

  • 谋事，。
    Tā zhèng zài móu shì, zhǔn bèi kāi yì jiā gōng sī.
    He is planning matters, preparing to start a company.
  • ，。
    Wǒ bāng nǐ móu gè hǎo chāi shì, nǐ fàng xīn.
    I'll help you find a good job — don't worry.
  • ，。
    Tā móu le jǐ nián shì, zhōng yú yǒu le chéng guǒ.
    He planned for several years and finally achieved results.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

谋móuseek/plan
事shìmatter/job

谋 seeks or arranges 事, giving the sense of planning matters or looking for a job.

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 謀; 谋 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
某
某mǒu謀móu
Same sound today

The traditional form 謀 uses 言 to show it relates to speech and 某 to show its sound; the simplified 谋 is a later shorthand.

Open 谋 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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