食宿

• Pinyin: shí sù
• Hanzi breakdown: 食 = 人 + 良 (food, eat, nourishment); 宿 = 宀 + 亻 + 一 (lodge, stay the night, dwelling)

Meaning

Board and lodging; meals and accommodation. The provision of both food and a place to stay.

A compound noun used in employment, travel, and institutional contexts. Common in job advertisements (提供食宿 — accommodation and meals provided), conference arrangements, study programmes, and descriptions of residential schools or work camps. The order is food first (食) then lodging (宿), reflecting a traditional priority hierarchy. Often appears as 包食宿 (all-inclusive board and lodging provided by the employer).

Examples

1. 参加这次学术研讨会的境外专家，主办单位将统一安排食宿，费用全部由会议经费支付，无需自理。 For overseas experts attending this academic symposium, the organizers will arrange room and board, with all expenses covered by the conference budget—no need to pay out of pocket.
2. 外出务工人员在签订劳动合同时，应明确要求雇主在合同中列明食宿安排及相关费用承担方式。 When signing labor contracts, migrant workers should clearly require the employer to specify the room-and-board arrangements and how related costs will be covered.
3. 这所山区寄宿学校为贫困家庭学生提供免费食宿，使他们能够专心完成九年义务教育而不受生活困扰。 This boarding school in a mountainous area provides free room and board for students from low-income families, allowing them to focus on completing the nine-year compulsory education without worrying about daily living.

Usage Guide

Context: employment, travel, education, hospitality, welfare

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 招聘启事中明确注明该职位提供包吃包住待遇，即雇主负责解决员工的全部食宿问题，这对于刚进城务工的年轻人来说具有相当大的吸引力。(The job advertisement clearly states that the position offers all-inclusive board and lodging, meaning the employer takes full responsibility for all food and accommodation costs for employees, which is considerably attractive for young people who have just moved to the city for work.)
• 政府专门拨款为此次洪灾中失去家园的受灾群众提供临时安置点，并确保每位受灾人员的基本食宿需求在过渡期内得到妥善保障。(The government specifically allocated funds to provide temporary resettlement facilities for residents who lost their homes in the flood, ensuring that the basic food and accommodation needs of every affected person are properly met during the transition period.)

Don't Say

• 食宿 as a verb meaning 'to eat and sleep' — it is a noun denoting the provision of board and lodging as a whole; to describe the act of eating and sleeping, use 吃住 in casual speech or 饮食起居 in formal contexts

Origin & History

食 (food, eat) + 宿 (lodge, stay overnight, accommodation)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal