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三十八 (sān shí bā) — thirty-eight

Definition

numeral
thirty-eight

Examples

  • 三十八。
    Tā jīn nián sān shí bā suì.
    He is thirty-eight years old this year.
  • 三十八。
    Wǒ mǎi le sān shí bā běn shū.
    I bought thirty-eight books.
  • 三十八。
    Zuò sān shí bā lù gōng jiāo chē kě yǐ dào huǒ chē zhàn.
    Take bus number thirty-eight to get to the train station.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

三十thirty
三sānthree十shíten
偏正Modifier + head
八bāeight

“三十” and “八” add together to give thirty-eight.

Characters in this word

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

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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