一天 (yī tiān) — (fixed expression / adverbial) all day; the whole day; (noun) one day (as a time period)

Definition

一天 has two distinct uses: as an idiom meaning 'all day / the whole day' (一天到晚, working from morning to night), and as a noun meaning 'one day' as a time period ("one day I'll..."). Don't confuse the duration sense with the single-occasion sense.

idiom
(fixed expression / adverbial) all daythe whole day
noun
one day (as a time period)

Examples

  • 。
    Tā yī tiān dào wǎn dōu zài gōng zuò.
    He works from morning till night.
  • 一天，。
    yī tiān, Wǒ zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù shí yù dào le lǎo péng you.
    One day, I met an old friend while walking in the park.
  • 一天，。
    Tiān shàng yī tiān de xīng xing, fēi cháng piào liang.
    The whole sky is full of stars; it's very beautiful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

一yīone
天tiānday

一 means one and 天 means day, together giving a single day or the whole day.

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

Grammar

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