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天生 (tiān shēng) — innate, inborn, natural (of a quality or ability)

Definition

天生 describes a quality or ability that is innate, present from birth — used attributively before a noun or with 的. Unlike 天然 (natural, not man-made) and 自然 (natural in manner or the natural world), it points to a personal trait that is not learned.

adjective
innateinbornnatural (of a quality or ability)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 天生。
    Tā yǒu yí fù tiān shēng de hǎo sǎng zi.
    She has a naturally good voice.
  • 天生，。
    Zhè zhǒng cái néng shì tiān shēng de, bú shì xué lái de.
    This talent is innate, not learned.
  • 天生。
    Tā tiān shēng jiù bù xǐ huan rè nao de dì fāng.
    He has never liked noisy places.

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tiānheaven
生shēngborn

天 and 生 mean heaven-born, describing an innate quality.

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
大大dà
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.

Open 天 →

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

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract Concepts5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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