---
title: "Yeyu Meaning: 业余 (yèyú) Means “amateur”"
description: "业余 (traditional 業餘, yèyú) means “amateur”. Hear its tones, see what 业 and 余 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/yeyu"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 业余 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

业余 yèyú

## amateur

## It can also mean

- spare time; after-hours

## Its characters

1. 业 yè line of business
2. 余 yú surplus

## In a sentence

他是一名业余摄影师。 He is an amateur photographer.

周有光推辞说，自己只是个**业余**爱好者，得到的回答却是：“这是一项新工作，大家都是业余的。

From [拼音是谁发明的？ · Who invented pinyin? The story of Zhou Youguang](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/who-invented-pinyin-zhou-youguang#library-word-336-338)

[More about 业余](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E4%B8%9A%E4%BD%99)

## More words with 业 or 余

- [毕业 bìyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/biye)
- [毕业生 bìyèshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/biyesheng)
- [产业 chǎnyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/chanye)
- [产业链 chǎnyèliàn](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/chanyelian)
- [创业 chuàngyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/chuangye)
- [从业 cóngyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/congye)
- [多余 duōyú](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/duoyu)
- [工业 gōngyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/gongye)
- [行业 hángyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/hangye)
- [敬业 jìngyè](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/jingye)

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