业余 yèyú in one's spare time
in one's spare time; outside working hours; amateur (historian etc)
How to remember 业余: 业 industry + 余 surplus = in one's spare time.
Characters
How it is used
- Two senses. 'Spare-time/off-hours': 业余时间 (yèyú shíjiān) leisure/off-work time; 业余爱好 (yèyú àihào) a hobby.
- 'Amateur' (vs professional): 业余选手 (yèyú xuǎnshǒu) an amateur player - opposite of 专业 (zhuānyè, professional), 专业选手 (zhuānyè xuǎnshǒu) a professional player.
- Can be mildly negative meaning 'unprofessional/sloppy': 太业余了 (tài yèyú le) that's so amateurish.
Example sentences
- 观察鸟类是个很好的业余爱好。 Guānchá niǎolèi shì gè hěn hǎo de yèyúàihào.Bird watching is a nice hobby.
- 我的业余爱好是拍野花的照片。 Wǒ de yèyúàihào shì pāi yěhuā de zhàopiān.My hobby is taking pictures of wild flowers.