Kilo Lingo

(jù yǒu) - to possess, to have (a quality or characteristic) in Mandarin

yǒu

Traditional: 具有

#2860 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to possess, to have (a quality or characteristic)

Word origin

A compound of 具 (jù, to furnish, to be equipped with, originally two hands holding up a vessel) and 有 (yǒu, to have).

Origin
compound
Root
具 (jù, to be equipped with) + 有 (yǒu, to have)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 具

Stroke order for 有

Examples

This job carries a certain amount of risk.

fēng

He has a wealth of teaching experience.

This book has great historical value.

shì

The new method has clear advantages.

She has a strong ability to learn.

具有 (jù yǒu) is the formal verb for possessing a quality. Reports, contracts, adverts and school essays all reach for it: 具有风险, 具有价值, 具有经验, 具有能力.

What follows it is always abstract. Experience, value, meaning, advantages, characteristics, risk, the right to do something. It is the written-register cousin of 有, and it lends whatever comes after it a slightly weighty air, which is exactly why job adverts are so fond of it.

The trap is using it for things you can pick up. 我具有一辆车 is wrong in a way that sounds odd rather than merely stiff; ownership of objects is 有 or 拥有. Keep 具有 for qualities, and if the sentence would sit comfortably in a chat message, use 有 instead.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

具有: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "具有" (to possess, to have (a quality or characteristic)): 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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This word is part of lesson 58.