舍 (shè): residence; house; quarters

Meanings

1 residence; house; quarters
2 my (humble prefix for younger relatives)

Characters

舍

shè

residence; house; quarters

Examples

HSK 5

宿舍在哪儿？

Sùshè zài nǎr?

Where is the dormitory?

HSK 6

这座老校舍建于五十年代。

Zhè zuò lǎo xiàoshè jiànyú wǔshí niándài.

This old school building was put up in the 1950s.

Tips

usage

The shè reading means a building or living quarters: 宿舍 (dormitory), 校舍 (school building), 旅舍 (inn). It also forms humble self-reference terms like 寒舍 (my humble home) and 舍弟 (my younger brother). The verb 'to give up' is the separate reading shě.

Components

radical

舌 shé

tongue (here: hut body)

The lower section is shaped like 舌 (the indexing radical, Kangxi 135) but historically depicts the post-and-wall body of a hut, not a tongue. With the roof above, the whole graph reads 'small dwelling', the source of the 'lodge, shed' senses; the 'give up, abandon' sense extends from leaving a temporary shelter behind.

pictograph

人 rén

person; roof

Top forms a clear peaked-roof shape, a recognizable architectural cover above the post-and-wall structure below. The same roof silhouette caps 今, 介, and 全, signalling shelter or cover. As a whole the character pictures a small thatched hut: peaked roof on top, walls beneath.