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不大 (bù dà) — not very; not often

Definition

不大 (bù dà) is an adverb meaning 'not very / not too' (degree) or 'not often / not really' (frequency), softening what follows. Negate the following verb/adjective rather than 不大 itself.

adverb
not verynot often

Examples

  • 不大。
    Zhè ge cài bù dà hǎo chī.
    This dish is not very tasty.
  • 不大。
    Wǒ bù dà kàn diàn yǐng.
    I don't often watch movies.
  • 不大。
    Tā bù dà gāo xìng.
    He is not very happy.

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.

不bùnot
大dàbig

不 means not and 大 means big, giving the softened sense not very.

Characters in this word

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →
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