儿时 (ér shí) — childhood, childhood years

Definition

noun

childhoodchildhood years

儿时。
Huí yì ér shí de shí guāng zǒng shì hěn měi hǎo.
Recalling childhood times is always beautiful.
儿时。
Tā cóng ér shí jiù kāi shǐ xué xí gāng qín.
He started learning piano from childhood.
儿时。
Zhè běn shū jì lù le tā de ér shí shēng huó.
This book records her childhood life.

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.

儿 means child and 时 means time; together they refer to the time of childhood.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

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 時; 时 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

日日rìsun; day

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 時 pairs 日 (sun/day) with 之 as the part that gives the sound; the simplified 时 is not the form described.

Appears in