大增 (dà zēng) — to increase greatly, to surge

Definition

A compound verb meaning a large, noticeable increase ('to surge, to rise sharply') — more emphatic than 增加, used for things like sales, output, or pressure.

verb
to increase greatlyto surge

Examples

  • 大增。
    Jīn nián de xiāo shòu é bǐ qù nián dà zēng.
    This year's sales surged compared to last year.
  • ,大增。
    Xīn zhèng cè shí shī hòu, chǎn liàng dà zēng.
    After the new policy was implemented, production increased greatly.
  • 大增。
    Gōng sī lì rùn dà fú dà zēng.
    The company's profits increased substantially.

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.

大dàgreatly
增zēngincrease

“大” expresses the degree of the increase, and “增” supplies the meaning of growing.

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.

Open 大 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
曾
曾céng增zēng
Same sound today

增 uses 土 (earth) to show that things grow in earth or are built from earth, and uses 曾 for the sound. This gives the sense of adding or increasing.

Open 增 →

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