十九 (shí jiǔ) — nineteen

Definition

numeral
nineteen

Examples

  • 十九
    Tā jīn nián shí jiǔ suì le.
    He is nineteen years old this year.
  • 十九
    Wǒ zài chāo shì mǎi le shí jiǔ gè píng guǒ.
    I bought nineteen apples at the supermarket.
  • 十九
    Cóng yí shù dào shí jiǔ, tā yòng le bú dào shí miǎo.
    It took her less than ten seconds to count from one to nineteen.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

十 'ten' and 九 'nine' combine additively to express nineteen.

Characters in this word

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.

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.