养活

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

含义

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.

例句

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。
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。
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。

用法指南

语境: family, economics, rural life, social welfare

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 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.)

错误说法

• 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

起源与历史

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)

文化背景

时代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal