to go on a business trip
HSK level
出差 is written with 14 strokes (出: 5, 差: 9). The animation replays automatically.
出差 (chūchāi) is a separable verb meaning 'to go on a business trip' or 'to be away on official work-related travel.'
It literally combines 出 ('to go out') with 差 (chāi, 'an errand or assignment'), so it specifically means traveling away from your usual workplace for a job assignment — not tourism or personal travel. It is neutral in register and extremely common in office and professional life.
Two differences from English: 出差 is a single verb, so you say 我下周出差 ('I'm on a business trip next week') without any word for 'trip'; and because it is separable, you can insert duration or destination, as in 出一趟差 ('take one business trip') or 去上海出差 ('go to Shanghai on business'). Note 差 here reads chāi, not chà (bad) or chā (difference).
Character by character
Memory hook: You 'go out' (出) to run a work 'errand' (差) — that's a business trip.
我下个星期要去北京出差。
Wǒ xià ge xīngqī yào qù Běijīng chūchāi.
I have to go to Beijing on business next week.
neutral
他经常出差，很少在家。
Tā jīngcháng chūchāi, hěn shǎo zài jiā.
He often travels for work and is rarely home.
spoken
老板出差去了，明天才回来。
Lǎobǎn chūchāi qù le, míngtiān cái huílái.
The boss is away on a business trip and won't be back until tomorrow.
spoken
这次出差大概要一个星期。
Zhè cì chūchāi dàgài yào yí ge xīngqī.
This business trip will take about a week.
neutral
旅行 is travel for leisure or tourism. 出差 is travel specifically for work. Going to Paris for vacation is 旅行; going for a meeting is 出差。
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