(xiū) - to repair, to mend in Mandarin
xiūTraditional: 修
Translation
to repair, to mend
Word origin
Built from 彡, the three strokes that mark decoration, with 攸 (yōu) supplying the sound. The early sense was to adorn or put in good order, from which mending follows.
- Origin
- phono-semantic
- Root
- 彡 (decorative strokes) + 攸 (yōu, phonetic)
Stroke order
修
Examples
，。
My car has broken down and needs mending.
。
He repaired that computer himself.
，。
This road is being repaired and is closed.
？
How much would it cost to fix this?
屏，？
The phone screen is cracked, can it still be repaired?
修 (xiū) is the everyday verb for putting something broken right: a car, a computer, a roof, a watch. Its two-syllable partner 修理 (xiū lǐ) means the same thing and swaps in freely wherever the rhythm wants an extra beat.
It stretches further than English repair, though. Roads, bridges and railways are 修 rather than built, so 修路 is roadworks and 修桥 is bridge construction. In education it means to take a course: 修课 and 进修 both come from the same root sense of putting in order.
The trap is that bare 修 says only that work happened, not that it worked. 我修了车 means I worked on the car; 我修好了车 means the car now runs. Chinese carries success in the resultative complement, and leaving off 好 quietly admits you failed. Note too that correcting a mistake in writing is 改 (gǎi), never 修.
Where this fits
Used in
Grammar articles
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修: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "修" (to repair, to mend): 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 53.