(bù mén) - department, division in Mandarin
bùménTraditional: 部門
Translation
department, division
Word origin
A compound of 部 (bù, a part or section) and 门 (mén, a door and by extension a category or branch), giving a branch of an organisation.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 部 (bù, section) + 门 (mén, category, branch)
Stroke order
部
门
Examples
销售。
He works in the sales department.
。
You need to ask a different department about this.
。
The company has five departments in all.
。
Government departments are closed on Saturdays.
。
There are only eight people in our department.
部门 (bù mén) is a department or division inside an organisation: a company's sales department, a ministry's branch, a hospital's administration. 政府部门, 销售部门, 相关部门.
It is the generic word, which is why it turns up so often in official language. When a Chinese notice says 有关部门 (the departments concerned), that vagueness is doing real work: nobody is naming who is responsible.
Two traps for an English speaker. A university department is 系, not 部门. And the department of a shop, the menswear floor, is 部 on its own (男装部). 部门 is for the organisational chart, not the building directory.
Where this fits
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部门: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "部门" (department, division): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 46.