Meaning of 薪水
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- salary
- wage
How to use 薪水
薪水 is a common everyday word for the regular pay you get from a job, usually monthly. It is a little more spoken and general than 工资 (gōngzī). Example: 他的薪水不高。(Tā de xīnshui bù gāo.) His salary is not high.
薪 (xīn) means firewood and 水 (shuǐ) means water. Firewood and water were the basic daily needs, so the money that pays for your daily needs is your 薪水.
Common mistake: Learners often write 新 (xīn, new) instead of 薪, since they sound the same. Remember 薪 has the grass radical 艹 on top because it is about firewood.
薪水 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
薪 xīn · fuel · 16 strokes
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水 shuǐ · water · 4 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 薪水.
| 水果 | shuǐguǒ | fruit |
| 水平 | shuǐpíng | horizontal; level; a standard; a level (of ability, development etc) |
| 药水 | yàoshuǐ | medicine in liquid form; bottled medicine |
| 凉水 | liángshuǐ | cool water; unboiled water |
| 海水 | hǎishuǐ | seawater |
| 汽水 | qìshuǐ | soda pop; carbonated soft drink |
| 泪水 | lèishuǐ | teardrop; tears |
| 矿泉水 | kuàngquánshuǐ | mineral water |
| 开水 | kāishuǐ | boiled water; boiling water |
| 纯净水 | chúnjìngshuǐ | purified water |
| 雨水 | yǔshuǐ | rainwater; rainfall; rain |
| 水分 | shuǐfèn | moisture content; (fig.) overstatement; padding |
Questions about 薪水
What does 薪水 mean?
薪水 (xīnshui) means "salary; wage" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 薪水?
薪水 is made of 2 characters: 薪 (16 strokes), 水 (4 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 薪水 an HSK word?
Yes. 薪水 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is the 水 in 薪水 pronounced shuǐ or shui?
In everyday speech the second syllable is often light, xīnshui, but the full tone xīnshuǐ is also correct and common. Either will be understood.
What is the difference between 薪水 and 工资?
Both mean salary or wages and are often interchangeable. 工资 (gōngzī) is more common on payslips and in official contexts, while 薪水 feels a bit more casual or literary depending on the region, and appears in words like 薪资 (xīnzī).