天分 (tiān fèn) — natural gift; talent | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

天分 (tiānfèn) is an innate, personal talent — something you are born with, used for what someone is naturally good at. Closer to 天赋 than to 才能 or 才华, which focus on developed skill rather than natural gift.

noun

natural gifttalent

Examples

天分。
Tā huà huà hěn yǒu tiān fèn.
He has a natural gift for painting.
天分。
Hěn duō rén dōu shuō wǒ yǒu yǔ yán tiān fèn.
Many people say I have a talent for languages.
天分。
tiān fèn Xū yào nǔ lì cái néng fā huī chū lái.
Talent needs hard work to be fully realized.

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.

天 and 分 suggest a heaven-given share, meaning natural talent.

Characters in this word

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

丁dīng天tiān

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.

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

八刀分

八八bāto separate
刀刀dāoknife

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Personality & Traits

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