伺候

cì hòu

HSK 2.0 Level 6 HSK 3.0 Level 7 Verb Uncommon

Definitions

1. to serve
2. to wait upon

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Word relationships

Related words

2 items

服务

fú wù

to serve

服务 is for providing a service, while 伺候 implies personal attendance.

照顾

zhào gu

to take care of

照顾 means to look after, but 伺候 is more about serving someone's personal needs.

Usage notes

Collocations

Common objects: 伺候老人 (attend to the elderly), 伺候病人 (nurse a patient), 伺候上司 (serve a superior), often in informal contexts.

Common mistakes

伺候 is often used for serving a person attentively, sometimes with a negative connotation of servitude. Don't use it for general service like customer service (use 服务 instead).

Example Sentences

1 shown

她在家伺候生病的婆婆。

She attends to her sick mother-in-law at home.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 伺候

难伺候

nán cì hou

(coll.) hard to please

Child Words of 伺候

to wait on

to watch

to wait

伺候