一千五百 (yī qiān wǔ bǎi) — one thousand five hundred, 1500

Definition

numeral
one thousand five hundred1500

Examples

  • 一千五百。
    Zhè tái diàn nǎo huā le yī qiān wǔ bǎi kuài qián.
    This computer cost 1500 yuan.
  • 一千五百。
    Wǒ men gōng sī yǒu yī qiān wǔ bǎi míng yuán gōng.
    Our company has 1500 employees.
  • 一千五百。
    Cóng běi jīng dào shàng hǎi dà yuē yī qiān wǔ bǎi gōng lǐ.
    From Beijing to Shanghai is about 1500 kilometers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

一千one thousand
一yīone千qiānthousand
偏正Modifier + head
五百five hundred
五wǔfive百bǎihundred
偏正Modifier + head

一千 is one thousand and 五百 is five hundred, together forming 1500.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

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