HSK 5 · Money

消费 xiāofèi “to consume” in Chinese

Traditional 消費

What 消费 means

  1. to consume
  2. to spend
  3. to consume (goods and services, resources etc)

How to say 消费

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale消xiāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale费fèi4th tone, falling

消费 in a sentence

  1. 在日本生活消费很高。

    Zài Rìběn shēnghuó xiāofèi hěn gāo.

    The cost of living in Japan is high.

    Sentence #3845383 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 东京是世界上消费水准最高的城市。

    Dōngjīng shì shìjiè shàng xiāofèi shuǐzhǔn zuì gāo de chéngshì.

    Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world.

    Sentence #767135 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 消费 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 消 (xiāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
消xiāoto diminish; to subside
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 肖to resemble · xiàoSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 肖 (xiào) hints at the sound. Compare it with xiāo.

The character 费 (fèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
费fèito cost
  • 弗not · fúSound part
  • 贝sea shell · bèiMeaning part

贝 hints at the meaning (sea shell); 弗 (fú) hints at the sound. Compare it with fèi.

How to write 消费

消 10 strokes · 费 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

消费 (xiāofèi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 消费 (xiāofèi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 消费

Words with 消

消息xiāoxi · news消化xiāohuà · to digest (food or information)取消qǔxiāo · to cancel消失xiāoshī · to disappear消极xiāojí · negative消毒xiāodú · to disinfect消除xiāochú · to eliminate消耗xiāohào · to consume消灭xiāomiè · to wipe out消防xiāofáng · firefighting

Words with 费

浪费làngfèi · to waste免费miǎnfèi · free (of charge)耗费hàofèi · to consume经费jīngfèi · funds

More words: Money & Economy

损失sǔnshī · loss讨价还价tǎojiàhuánjià · to bargain投入tóurù · to put in投资tóuzī · investment押金yājīn · deposit优惠yōuhuì · preferential涨zhǎng · to rise (of prices账户zhànghù · bank account

FAQs

消费 (xiāofèi) means “to consume” or “to spend”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it xiāofèi: xiāo with a 1st tone, then fèi with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 消费 is written 消費. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type xiaofei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 消费 from the suggestions. Typing xiaofei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
消费 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.