KUI

kui(1)

亏 = to suffer a loss

我亏了 = wo(3) kui(1) le(-) = my disadvantage (this can be used in many situations

Short form:

亏了! = kui(1)le(-)! = my loss!

Even though 亏 is the most common character spoken 'kui', it is not used as sound-determinig element in other character.

Similar characters are:

号 = hao(4) = assigned number, date of a month

亏 ; is only used when one loses money in business, or when transactions in general are to one's disadvantage. When specific items have gone missing, the best is to use the following:

丢 = to lose

The two-character version is:

丢失 = diu(1)shi(1) = to lose

The character 失 by itself also means 'to lose'. However, there are some 90 standard characters that are spoken 'shi', and many have a dozen or more different meanings. Thus, even with different tones, single-character meanings in spoken Chinese are often difficult to identify. The morpheme 'diu'is much less ambivalent. But if a 'to lose' meaning is to be conveyed by using 失 without 丢, the following two are better than just 失 alone:

失掉 = shi(1)diau(4) = to lose

失去 = shi(1)qu(4) = to lose

不要丢了... = Bu(4) yao(4) diu(1) le(-)... = Don't lose...

kui(2)

kui(3)

kui(4)