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停顿 (tíng dùn) — to pause; to halt; to break off (in speech, activity, etc.)

Definition

停顿 emphasizes a brief, temporary pause (in speech, activity, or thought) — lighter than 停止 (to stop/cease, often final). Compare 暂停 (to suspend, e.g. a video or game).

verb
to pauseto haltto break off (in speech, activity, etc.)

Examples

  • 停顿，。
    Tā yǎn jiǎng shí tū rán tíng dùn le yí xià, rán hòu jì xù.
    He paused for a moment during his speech, then continued.
  • ，停顿。
    Yīn wèi jī qì gù zhàng, shēng chǎn xiàn shàng fā shēng le tíng dùn.
    Due to a machine malfunction, there was a halt on the production line.
  • 停顿。
    Dú shū shí yù dào bù dǒng de dì fāng kě yǐ tíng dùn sī kǎo yí xià.
    While reading, you can pause to think when you come across something you don't understand.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

停tíngstop
顿dùnpause

停 means stop and 顿 means pause; together they describe a halt in speech or activity.

Characters in this word

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
亭
亭tíng停tíng
Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

Open 停 →

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 頓; 顿 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún頓dùn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頓 combines 屯, drawn as a kneeling person's head, with 頁, and expresses a bow or kowtow. The simplified 顿 replaces 頁 with 页.

Open 顿 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Change & Process

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