Chinese Conversation · Level 66
90 words
Chinese word
失业
Pronunciation
Pinyinshī yè
Meaning
- verbbe unemployed
Example
因为公司裁员，他失业了。yīn wèi gōng sī cái yuán tā shī yè le
Because the company laid off workers, he became unemployed.
More examples
毕业后，他曾经失业了一段时间，后来通过培训找到了工作。bì yè hòu tā céng jīng shī yè le yí duàn shí jiān hòu lái tōng guò péi xùn zhǎo dào le gōng zuò
After graduation, he was unemployed for a while, but later found a job through training.
Core concept
A person stands outside the flow of paid work, with the regular income from it gone.
Common phrases
毕业后失业bì yè hòu shī yè
be unemployed after graduation
失业了一段时间shī yè le yí duàn shí jiān
be unemployed for a while
Similar words
解雇jiě gù: End an employee's employment against the employee's will.
裁员cái yuán: Reduce staff by dismissing some employees.
辞职cí zhí: Choose to leave a job voluntarily.
下岗xià gǎng: Temporarily lose a workplace post because of the employer, especially in a state-owned enterprise.
Definition in Chinese
失去工作，暂时没有职业和稳定收入的状态。shī qù gōng zuò zàn shí méi yǒu zhí yè hé wěn dìng shōu rù de zhuàng tài
Word origin
失 (shī, "lose") + 业 (yè, "work or livelihood") forms the idea of losing the work that provides a living.
Usage tips
- In everyday Chinese, the word can follow a person's name directly as the predicate, while the sentence-final change-of-state particle highlights that the condition has begun.
Other meanings
- unemploymentnoun
- joblessnoun
Opposites
- 就业jiù yèget a jobverb
Related words
- 失业补助shī yè bǔ zhùunemployment benefitsnoun