消费 meaning in English

xiāofèi

to consume (goods and services, resources etc)

HSK 3verbTraditional 消費19 strokes

Meaning of 消费

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

xiāofèi

to consume (goods and services, resources etc)

How to use 消费

消费 is a fairly formal word for spending money on goods and services, common in news, economics, and on receipts. It can be a verb or used like a noun in phrases such as 消费者 (consumer). Example: 年轻人喜欢在网上消费。(Niánqīngrén xǐhuan zài wǎngshàng xiāofèi.) Young people like to spend money online.

消 (xiāo) means to vanish or use up, as in 消失 (xiāoshī), and 费 (fèi) means expense, as in 费用 (fèiyong). Put them together: your money and expenses disappear when you consume.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 消费 (xiāofèi, to consume) with 浪费 (làngfèi, to waste), which share 费 but differ in meaning. Also, 费 is fourth tone, so do not say xiāofēi.

消费 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

欧ōu洲zhōu人rén是shì世shì界jiè上shàng最zuì大dà的de酒jiǔ精jīng消xiāo费fèi者zhě。

Europeans are the world's largest consumers of alcohol.

在zài日rì本běn生shēng活huó消xiāo费fèi很hěn高gāo。

Life in Japan is expensive.

酒jiǔ的de消xiāo费fèi每měi年nián都dōu在zài上shàng升shēng。

Alcohol consumption is increasing every year.

东dōng京jīng是shì世shì界jiè上shàng消xiāo费fèi水shuǐ准zhǔn最zuì高gāo的de城chéng市shì。

Tokyo is the most expensive town in the world.

一yì般bān来lái说shuō，消xiāo费fèi者zhě喜xǐ欢huān数shù量liàng胜shèng于yú质zhì量liàng。

In general, consumers prefer quantity to quality.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

消 xiāo · to diminish · 10 strokes

费 fèi · to cost · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 消费.

消息	xiāoxi	(piece of) news; information; message
消失	xiāoshī	to disappear; to fade away
浪费	làngfèi	to waste; to squander
取消	qǔxiāo	to cancel; to call off; to revoke; to rescind
费用	fèiyong	cost; expenditure
学费	xuéfèi	tuition fee; tuition
收费	shōufèi	to charge a fee
交费	jiāofèi	to pay a fee
免费	miǎnfèi	free (of charge)
消化	xiāohuà	to digest (food); (fig.) to absorb (information etc); to assimilate; to process
消除	xiāochú	to eliminate; to remove
消防	xiāofáng	firefighting; fire control

Questions about 消费

What does 消费 mean?

消费 (xiāofèi) means "to consume (goods and services, resources etc)" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 消费?

消费 is made of 2 characters: 消 (10 strokes), 费 (9 strokes). That is 19 strokes in total.

Is 消费 an HSK word?

Yes. 消费 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 消费 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 消费 is written 消費.

What is the difference between 消费 and 花钱?

花钱 (huā qián) is the everyday spoken way to say spend money. 消费 sounds more formal and often describes spending habits or the economy in general.

Can 消费 take an object?

Yes, but usually in formal writing, as in 消费能源 (consume energy). In daily speech people more often say 买 (mǎi) or 用 (yòng) with an object and use 消费 on its own.