养活

• Pinyin: yǎng huo
• Hanzi breakdown: 养 = 羊 (sheep — livestock as a model for nourishment) + 食 (food/feed); 活 = 氵(water) + 舌 (tongue — water and speech as signs of life)

Meaning

To support; to feed; to keep alive financially or materially. To provide for the basic sustenance and livelihood of a person, family, or animal.

Used both literally (feeding dependants) and figuratively (sustaining an enterprise or industry). Common patterns: 养活一家人 (support a whole family), 养活自己 (support oneself; be self-sufficient), 一个产业养活了多少人 (how many people an industry supports). Carries a weight of responsibility and sacrifice.

Examples

1. 他一个人打三份工，硬是靠着自己的双手养活了年迈的父母和年幼的孩子，令周围的人无不敬佩。 He worked three jobs by himself and, through sheer hard work, supported his elderly parents and young children, earning everyone’s deep respect.
2. 在那个年代，一亩薄田往往难以养活一大家子人，迫使许多农村劳动力背井离乡外出务工谋生。 In those days, a single acre of poor farmland often wasn’t enough to support a big family, forcing many rural workers to leave home and go elsewhere to find work.
3. 这家小餐馆虽然规模不大，却养活了一个十多口人的大家庭，也成为附近街坊邻居聚会的常去之处。 Though the restaurant is small, it supports a large family of more than ten people and has also become a favorite gathering spot for neighbors nearby.

Usage Guide

Context: family, economics, rural life, social welfare

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 一个工厂工人的月薪在扣除房租和日常开销之后所剩无几，要靠这点钱养活孩子和赡养老人实在是捉襟见肘。(After deducting rent and daily expenses, a factory worker's monthly wage leaves very little — trying to support children and care for elderly parents on such an amount is truly a stretch.)
• 这一产业链上下游加在一起，直接和间接养活了该地区将近三十万名就业人口，对当地经济具有举足轻重的地位。(The upstream and downstream of this industrial chain together, directly and indirectly, support nearly 300,000 employed people in the region, giving it a pivotal role in the local economy.)

Don't Say

• 养活一条鱼 — 养活 implies providing fundamental sustenance to keep something alive and is typically used for people or economically significant groups; for pet fish say 养鱼 or 喂鱼; 养活 for a single fish sounds overly dramatic

Origin & History

养 (nourish/raise — 羊 sheep + 食 food, the act of feeding livestock; extended to raising people) + 活 (live/alive — 氵water + 舌 tongue, suggesting the vitality of living creatures)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal