费

費

fèi

弗 + 贝

HSK 3.0Level 4

Definitions

fèi (verb) to cost; to spend

fèi (noun) expense; fee

fèi (adjective) wasteful

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 弗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 費.

Semantic: 贝 Phonetic: 弗

About

The character 费 (traditional form 費) is a phono-semantic compound: the upper component 弗 indicates pronunciation, while the lower component 贝 (a cowrie shell) provides the semantic category related to money or wealth. Its core meaning involves spending, costing, or consuming resources, especially money or materials. Over time, the meaning broadened to include the use of intangible resources, such as expending energy, spending time, or exhausting mental effort.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Early Spring and Autumn (~700 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

电话费很贵。

Diànhuà fèi hěn guì.

The phone bill is expensive.

他每个月都要交水费。

Tā měi gè yuè dōu yào jiāo shuǐfèi.

He has to pay the water bill every month.

不要浪费食物。

Bùyào làngfèi shíwù.

Do not waste food.

学习外语需要费时间。

Xuéxí wàiyǔ xūyào fèi shíjiān.

Learning a foreign language requires time.

这个项目费了很多心血。

Zhège xiàngmù fèi le hěnduō xīnxuè.

This project cost a lot of effort.

办理签证手续很费事。

Bànlǐ qiānzhèng shǒuxù hěn fèishì.

Handling visa procedures is very troublesome.

为了省钱，他费尽心思找优惠。

Wèile shěng qián, tā fèijìn xīnsī zhǎo yōuhuì.

To save money, he spared no effort to find discounts.

这项研究耗费了大量的人力物力。

Zhè xiàng yánjiū hàofèi le dàliàng de rénlì wùlì.

This research consumed a lot of manpower and material resources.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 弗

Component: 贝

费