Chinese word

合作社

Pronunciation

Pinyinhé zuò shè

Meaning

  • nouncooperative

Example

我们村有个合作社，大家一起种菜。wǒ men cūn yǒu gè hé zuò shè dà jiā yì qǐ zhòng cài

Our village has a cooperative, and everyone grows vegetables together.

Illustration for 合作社 (cooperative)

More examples

附近的合作社帮助农民改进种植技术。fù jìn de hé zuò shè bāng zhù nóng mín gǎi jìn zhòng zhí jì shù

The nearby cooperative helps farmers improve their growing techniques.

Core concept

People join one working unit, manage a business together, and divide its gains under an agreed arrangement.

Common phrases

  • 农业合作社nóng yè hé zuò shè

    agricultural cooperative

  • 生产合作社shēng chǎn hé zuò shè

    production cooperative

  • 成立合作社chéng lì hé zuò shè

    establish a cooperative

  • 加入合作社jiā rù hé zuò shè

    join a cooperative

Similar words

企业qǐ yè: An organization that produces or sells goods or services as a profit-making business.
组织zǔ zhī: A body that gathers people or resources to work toward a common goal.
社团shè tuán: A nonprofit group that people join for a common interest or goal.
农民专业合作社nóng mín zhuān yè hé zuò shè: A farmer-run organization legally formed to jointly produce or sell agricultural goods.

Definition in Chinese

以成员为主体，通过合作进行生产、加工或销售，并按合同或协定分配收益的互助性组织。yǐ chéng yuán wéi zhú tǐ tōng guò hé zuò jìn xíng shēng chǎn jiā gōng huò xiāo shòu bìng àn hé tóng huò xié dìng fēn pèi shōu yì de hù zhù xìng zǔ zhī

Word origin

The compound 合作社 (hézuòshè, "cooperative") joins 合 (hé, "join") and 作 (zuò, "do") to express joint work, then adds 社 (shè, "association") for the organized group carrying it out.

Usage tips

  • In village contexts, this word often identifies the local group behind shared crops or farm products, not a building or a single farm.

Other meanings

  • agricultural cooperativenoun
  • production cooperativenoun

Opposites

  • 私营企业sī yíng qǐ yèprivate enterprisenoun
  • 个体户gè tǐ hùindividual business ownernoun

Related words

  • 合作社长hé zuò shè zhǎngcooperative headnoun
  • 合作社成员hé zuò shè chéng yuáncooperative membernoun
  • 合作社制度hé zuò shè zhì dùcooperative systemnoun

Word lists with this word