下笔 (xià bǐ) — to put pen to paper; to start writing or painting

Definition

下笔 means the moment of starting to write or paint — putting pen to paper. Often used in fixed phrases like 下笔成章 ('write fluently') or 一…就… to stress the act of beginning.

verb
to put pen to paperto start writing or painting

Examples

  • 下笔。
    Tā zhàn zài huà bù qián chí chí bù gǎn xià bǐ.
    He stood in front of the canvas and hesitated to start painting.
  • ，。
    Wèi le xiě hǎo zhè piān wén zhāng, wǒ xià guò hǎo jǐ cì bǐ cái suàn mǎn yì.
    To write this article well, I started and restarted several times before being satisfied.
  • ，。
    Yí xià bǐ jiù tíng bú xià lái, tā xiě le yì zhěng yè.
    Once he started writing he couldn't stop, and he wrote all night.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

下xiàput down
笔bǐpen

下 means to put down and 笔 means pen, so putting the pen to paper means beginning to write.

Characters in this word

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

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →

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