度假(dù jià) - to have a holiday, to go on holiday in Mandarin

度假 (dùjià) means to have a holiday, built from 度 (dù, to spend, to pass, here "to pass time") and 假 (jià, holiday, time off). Put together, it is literally "to pass one's holiday", the standard verb for the activity of being on holiday rather than the noun for the time off itself.

Like many verb-object compounds, 度假 (dùjià) is a single unbreakable action for most everyday purposes: 去海边度假 (qù hǎibiān dùjià), "to go to the seaside on holiday", and 出国度假 (chūguó dùjià), "to go abroad on holiday", are both common shapes.

Do not confuse 假 (jià) here with the unrelated 假 (jiǎ) meaning "fake, false"; it is the same character but a different tone and a different word. The holiday sense also appears in 暑假 (shǔjià, summer holiday) and 请假 (qǐngjià, to ask for time off).