大前天 (dà qián tiān) — three days ago

Definition

A time word meaning 'three days ago' — the day before 前天. Use 那天 or specify the activity to make the time reference clear.

noun

three days ago

大前天。
dà qián tiān Wǒ qù le shàng hǎi.
I went to Shanghai three days ago.
大前天。
dà qián tiān De kǎo shì hěn nán.
The exam three days ago was very difficult.
大前天。
dà qián tiān Wǎn shàng wǒ men chī le huǒ guō.
Three days ago in the evening we ate hotpot.

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.

大dàfarther

前天day before yesterday

偏正Modifier + head

大 means farther back and 前天 means the day before yesterday, so the sense is three days ago.

Characters in this word

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.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In the older form of 前, 止 (foot) and 舟 (boat) showed a foot on a boat moving forward; in the current 前 those parts are shortened.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.