费

費
fèi
noun HSK 4 #2,182

Meanings

  1. 1 fee; expense; charge
  2. 2 to spend; to consume
  3. 3 wasteful

Examples

HSK 1
Zhè tài fèi shíjiān le.
This takes too much time.
HSK 1
Xuéfèi duōshǎo qián?
How much is the tuition fee?
HSK 3
Nǐ tài fèi diàn le.
You use too much electricity.

Tips

usage
费 is used as a suffix for many types of fees: 学费 (tuition), 房费 (room charge), 水费 (water bill), 电费 (electricity bill), 停车费 (parking fee).

Components

radical
贝 bèi
cowrie shell; money
Bottom 贝 - the shell radical, indexing radical of 费. Cowrie shells were Shang-and-Zhou currency, so the radical anchors any money-or-commerce concept. To 费 is to spend money or expend resources. Same radical heads 财 wealth, 货 goods, 贵 expensive, 买 buy - the whole money-and-trade family.
phonetic
弗 fú
not
Top supplies the sound: 弗 fú drifted to fèi with regular tone and onset stability (f/f) - a clean phonetic match. 弗 itself depicts two arrows bound together, an old negation symbol. Same phonetic appears in 沸 (boil), 拂 (brush off), 佛 (Buddha) - a productive fú/fèi family.

Stroke Order

费 fèi