请假
qǐngjià · HSK 1
ask for leave
🏖️ 请假 = 请 (request) + 假 (leave/holiday)
请 means to request or ask politely; 假 here means leave or holiday (not 'fake'). Together: formally request time off. Same 假 appears in 假期 (vacation) and 暑假 (summer break).
请 — speech radical 讠 + 青 (qīng, blue/green)
请 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言) signals a meaning related to speaking, while 青 (qīng) supplies the sound. Originally it meant 'to ask' or 'request' through speech, and later extended to the polite 'please' and 'to invite'.
假 — person radical 亻 + 叚 (borrow)
假 combines the person radical 亻 with 叚, which originally meant 'to borrow' and provides the sound. The core idea is a person borrowing something, which extended to 'borrowed,' 'not real,' or 'fake.' From there it also developed the meaning 'leave/vacation' (time borrowed away from work).
qǐng jià · HSK 4
to ask for leave
📝 请 = request + 假 = leave/false; politely request time off
请 (qǐng) means to request or invite; 假 (jià) here means leave or vacation (same character also reads jiǎ meaning false). Together: formally request leave from work or school.
请 — speech radical 讠 + 青 (qīng, blue/green)
请 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言) signals a meaning related to speaking, while 青 (qīng) supplies the sound. Originally it meant 'to ask' or 'request' through speech, and later extended to the polite 'please' and 'to invite'.
假 — person radical 亻 + 叚 (borrow)
假 combines the person radical 亻 with 叚, which originally meant 'to borrow' and provides the sound. The core idea is a person borrowing something, which extended to 'borrowed,' 'not real,' or 'fake.' From there it also developed the meaning 'leave/vacation' (time borrowed away from work).