赊账 (shē zhàng) — to buy or sell on credit; to have an outstandin…

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to buy (or sell) on credit — pay later.' 赊 is the verb, 账 the object, so it splits as 赊…账 (e.g. 赊了一台电脑).

verb

to buy or sell on creditto have an outstanding account

赊账。
Zhè jiā diàn kě yǐ shē zhàng.
This store allows buying on credit.
。
Tā shē le sān gè yuè de zhàng.
He has had an outstanding account for three months.
赊账。
Wǒ men shē zhàng mǎi le nà tái diàn nǎo.
We bought that computer on credit.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

赊 means credit and 账 means account, so together they describe running an account on credit.

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 賒; 赊 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú賒shē

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賒 has 貝 (shell) beside 佘, which supplies the sound.

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 賬; 账 is its simplified writing.

貝長賬

Meaning part形符xíngfú

貝貝bèishell

Sound part声符shēngfú

長

長cháng賬

Same sound today

In the traditional form 賬, 貝 is a shell and 長 is used for the sound; the simplified 账 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Appears in