饭钱 (fàn qián) — cost of a meal; food expenses | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

cost of a mealfood expenses

Easily confused

饭前fàn qiánsound-alikebefore a meal

Examples

饭钱。
Zhè ge yuè de fàn qián yǐ jīng huā le bù shǎo.
I've already spent quite a bit on food this month.
饭钱。
Měi cì jù cān dà jiā píng tān fàn qián.
Every time we have a group meal, everyone splits the cost equally.
饭钱，。
Tā wàng le dài fàn qián, wǒ bāng tā xiān fù le.
He forgot to bring money for the meal, so I paid for him first.

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.

饭 means 'meal' and 钱 means 'money', so it names money spent on meals.

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 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shífood

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

反fǎn飯fàn

Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

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 錢; 钱 is its simplified writing.

金戔錢

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal; gold; money

Sound part声符shēngfú

戔

戔jiān錢qián

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 錢 combines 金, meaning metal or money, with 戔, which gives the sound; the simplified 钱 is a later shorthand.

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