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四百 (sì bǎi) — four hundred

Definition

numeral
four hundred

Examples

  • 四百。
    Zhè ge jiào shì lǐ yǒu sì bǎi gè xué shēng.
    There are four hundred students in this classroom.
  • 四百。
    Tā huā le sì bǎi yuán mǎi le nà běn shū.
    He spent four hundred yuan to buy that book.
  • 四百。
    sì bǎi Duō nián qián zhè lǐ shì yí zuò gǔ chéng.
    Four hundred years ago, this place was an ancient city.

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.

四sìfour
百bǎihundred

四 means four and 百 means hundred, together naming four hundred.

Characters in this word

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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