掃除

See also: 扫除

Chinese

		broom; to sweep	remove; do away with; wipe out remove; do away with; wipe out; divide; except
trad. (掃除)		掃	除
simp. (扫除)		扫	除

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sǎochú

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄠˇ ㄔㄨˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sou³ ceoi⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): so-chhù
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sàu-tîr / sàu-tû / sàu-tî / sò͘-tîr

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sǎochú
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄠˇ ㄔㄨˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sǎochú
  - Wade–Giles: sao³-chʻu²
  - Yale: sǎu-chú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: saochwu
  - Palladius: саочу (saoču)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sou³ ceoi⁴
  - Yale: sou chèuih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sou³ tsoey⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: sou³ cêu⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯³³ t͡sʰɵy̯²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: so-chhù
  - Hakka Romanization System: so cu^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: so⁴ cu²
  - Sinological IPA: /so⁵⁵ t͡sʰu¹¹/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sàu-tîr
  - Tâi-lô: sàu-tîr
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /sau⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ tɯ²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sàu-tû
  - Tâi-lô: sàu-tû
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sao'duu
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /sau²¹⁻⁴¹ tu²³/
  - Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /sau²¹⁻⁵³ tu²⁴/
  - Sinological IPA (Taipei): /sau¹¹⁻⁵³ tu²⁴/
- (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sàu-tî
  - Tâi-lô: sàu-tî
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sao'dii
  - Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /sau²¹⁻⁴¹ ti²³/
  - Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /sau²¹⁻⁵³ ti¹³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sò͘-tîr
  - Tâi-lô: sòo-tîr
  - Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /sɔ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ tɯ²⁴/

Verb

掃除

to clear away; to sweep away; to clean with a brush
(figurative) to eradicate; to wipe out
掃除文盲／扫除文盲 ― sǎochú wénmáng ― to eliminate illiteracy

Synonyms

(to clear away):

edit

劐 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
打掃 / 打扫 (dǎsǎo)
掃 / 扫
掃灑 / 扫洒 (sǎosǎ) (literary, or Min Nan)
摒掃 / 摒扫 (Hakka, Hokkien)
清掃 / 清扫 (qīngsǎo)

(to eradicate):

edit

免
免除 (miǎnchú)
刷 (colloquial)
削 (literary, or in compounds)
削除 (xuēchú)
去掉 (qùdiào)
去除 (qùchú)
報銷 / 报销 (bàoxiāo) (figurative, humorous)
屏除 (bǐngchú)
廓清 (kuòqīng)
打掉 (dǎdiào)
掃 / 扫
排解 (páijiě)
排除 (páichú)
摒除
撤 (chè)
撤除 (chèchú)
消 (xiāo)
消弭 (xiāomǐ) (literary)
消解 (xiāojiě)
消釋 / 消释 (xiāoshì) (figurative)
消除 (xiāochú)
淘汰 (táotài)
清洗 (qīngxǐ) (figurative)
清除 (qīngchú)
破 (pò) (literary, or in compounds)
破壞 / 破坏 (pòhuài)
破除 (pòchú)
祛除 (qūchú)
罷 / 罢
翦落 (jiǎnluò) (literary)
肅清 / 肃清 (sùqīng)
蕩 / 荡 (dàng) (literary, or in compounds)
解釋 / 解释 (jiěshì) (archaic)
解除 (jiěchú)
鋤 / 锄 (chú)
鏟除 / 铲除 (chǎnchú)
除
除去 (chúqù)
除忒 (Hakka)
除掉 (chúdiào)
除開 / 除开 (chúkāi)
革除 (géchú)
驅散 / 驱散 (qūsàn)
驅走 / 驱走 (qūzǒu)
驅除 / 驱除 (qūchú)

Derived terms

大掃除 / 大扫除 (dàsǎochú)
掃盲 / 扫盲 (sǎománg)
掃除天下 / 扫除天下

Japanese

Kanji in this term
掃	除
そう Grade: S	じ Grade: 6
on'yomi

Alternative forms

(honorific) お掃除(そうじ) (o-sōji)

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) そーじ [sòójí] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [so̞ːʑi]

Noun

掃(そう)除(じ) • (sōji)

cleaning; sweeping up

Derived terms

掃除機(そうじき) (sōjiki): vacuum cleaner
掃除夫(そうじふ) (sōjifu): cleaner
大掃除(おおそうじ) (ōsōji): general cleaning

Verb

掃(そう)除(じ)する • (sōji suru) transitive suru (stem 掃(そう)除(じ)し (sōji shi), past 掃(そう)除(じ)した (sōji shita))

clean; sweep up; tidy up
- 2025 March 24, 奥村政佳, quotee, “第217回国会　参議院　内閣委員会　第3号　令和7年3月24日”, in 国会会議録検索システム‎^[1], 国立国会図書館:
  ちなみに、この後、スープをこぼしちゃった子のお着替えをさせて、フロアを掃除して、おむつをチェックして、ベッドを敷いて寝かし付けをします。
  Chinami ni, kono ato, sūpu o koboshichatta ko no o-kigae o sasete, furoa o sōji shite, o-mutsu o chekku shite, beddo o shīte nekashitsuke o shi-masu.
  By the way, after this, they change the clothes of any children who spilled their soup, clean the floor, check their diapers, make their beds and put the children to sleep.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "掃除する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	掃除し	そうじし	sōji shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	掃除し	そうじし	sōji shi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	掃除する	そうじする	sōji suru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	掃除する	そうじする	sōji suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	掃除すれ	そうじすれ	sōji sure
Meireikei ("imperative")	掃除せよ¹ 掃除しろ²	そうじせよ¹ そうじしろ²	sōji seyo¹ sōji shiro²
Key constructions
Passive	掃除される	そうじされる	sōji sareru
Causative	掃除させる掃除さす	そうじさせるそうじさす	sōji saseru sōji sasu
Potential	掃除できる	そうじできる	sōji dekiru
Volitional	掃除しよう	そうじしよう	sōji shiyō
Negative	掃除しない	そうじしない	sōji shinai
Negative continuative	掃除せず	そうじせず	sōji sezu
Formal	掃除します	そうじします	sōji shimasu
Perfective	掃除した	そうじした	sōji shita
Conjunctive	掃除して	そうじして	sōji shite
Hypothetical conditional	掃除すれば	そうじすれば	sōji sureba

¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative

References

^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō
^ Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN

“掃除”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Korean

Hanja in this term
掃	除

Noun

掃除 • (soje) (hangeul 소제)

hanja form^? of 소제 (“cleaning; sweeping up”)

[SMK2-1] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1974), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Second edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō

[ZAJ-2] Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN

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