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零碎 (líng suì) — (adjective) scattered and fragmentary, piecemeal; (noun) scraps, odds and ends

Definition

零碎 can be an adjective ('scattered, fragmentary') or a noun ('scraps, odds and ends'). Compared with 琐碎, which judges matters as 'trivial', 零碎 is neutral, describing things that are just broken-up bits.

adjective
scattered and fragmentarypiecemeal
noun
scrapsodds and ends

Examples

  • 零碎。
    Tā lì yòng líng suì shí jiān xué xí wài yǔ.
    He uses spare moments to study foreign languages.
  • 零碎。
    Tā bǎ líng suì dōu fàng zài chōu ti lǐ le.
    She put all the odds and ends in the drawer.
  • 零碎。
    Zhè xiē líng suì zhǐ kě yǐ huí shōu lì yòng.
    These scraps of paper can be recycled.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

零língscattered
碎suìbroken

零 (scattered) and 碎 (broken) together give a sense of bits and pieces.

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng零líng
Same sound today

In 零, the 雨 part depicts thick raindrops falling from the sky; the 令 part gives the sound.

Open 零 →

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
石石shístone
Sound part声符shēngfú
卒
卒zú碎suì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

碎 pairs 石 (stone) with 卒, which gives the sound; the stone part is tied to the sense of breaking or smashing.

Open 碎 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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