ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

shop / store

diàn
8 strokes · 广 (building radical) + 占 (to occupy) — a building occupied for trade · HSK 1

Where 店 comes from

店 shelters 占 (to occupy, also the sound) under 广, the lean-to roof radical for buildings. A spot occupied under a roof to sell things — a shop, unchanged in concept for two millennia.

店 in Chinese culture

店 marks every storefront in China: 饭店 (restaurant/hotel — 'rice shop', with 饭), 书店 (bookshop, with 书), 商店 (general store), 网店 (online shop — the roof went digital). The suffix 小店 ('my humble shop') is how owners modestly refer to their own business. Walk any Chinese street and count the 店 signs — it's the character you'll read most often outdoors.

Example

饭店 fàndiàn — restaurant / hotel

这家饭店的菜很好吃。
Zhè jiā fàndiàn de cài hěn hǎochī.
This restaurant's food is delicious.

How to remember it

Under a roof 广, a spot occupied 占 to sell — a SHOP.

网店 'net shop' — China's e-commerce giants run on the same 店 that named Tang-dynasty market stalls.

Same sound, different tones

1st diān
to jolt
3rd diǎn
dot / o'clock
4th diàn
shop

Words unlocked by 店

饭店 fàndiàn
restaurant / hotel
书店 shūdiàn
bookstore
商店 shāngdiàn
store
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