大城市 (dà chéng shì) — major city; metropolis

Definition

noun

major citymetropolis

Measure word · 座

大城市。
Tā chū shēng zài yí gè dà chéng shì.
He was born in a big city.
大城市，。
Běi jīng shì yí gè dà chéng shì, yǒu hěn duō jī huì.
Beijing is a big city with many opportunities.
大城市，。
Tā cóng xiǎo zài dà chéng shì zhǎng dà, xí guàn le rè nao de shēng huó.
He grew up in a big city from childhood and got used to the lively 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.

城市city

联合Side by side

大 'big' and 城市 'city' picture a major metropolis.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

土成城

Meaning part形符xíngfú

土土tǔsoil

Sound part声符shēngfú

成

Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

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

兮兮xībustling

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 old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.