天大 (tiān dà) — extremely big, huge | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Literally 'sky-big' — an emphatic 'huge' for abstract matters like mistakes or opportunities, stronger and more literary than 大的.

adjective

extremely bighuge

Examples

天大！
Zhè zhēn shì tiān dà de hǎo jī huì!
This is truly a huge opportunity!
天大。
Tā zuó tiān fàn le yí gè tiān dà de cuò wù.
He made a huge mistake yesterday.
，天大。
Duì yú tā men lái shuō, zhè shì tiān dà de shì.
For them, this is a huge matter.

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 means sky and 大 means big: as big as the sky.

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.

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.

Appears in

Size & Dimension

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.