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对岸 (duì àn) — opposite bank (of a river, lake, or other body of water)

Definition

对岸 specifically means the far bank of a river, lake, or other body of water. For 'across from' in a non-water sense (across the street, opposite direction), use 对面.

noun
opposite bank (of a river, lake, or other body of water)

Examples

  • 对岸。
    Cóng duì àn chuī lái le yí zhèn liáng fēng.
    A cool breeze came from the opposite bank.
  • ，对岸。
    Tā zhàn zài hé biān, wàng zhe duì àn chū shén.
    He stood by the river, staring at the opposite bank absent-mindedly.
  • ，对岸。
    Hé shuǐ hěn kuān, duì àn de cūn zhuāng kàn qǐ lái hěn xiǎo.
    The river is wide, and the village on the opposite bank looks very small.

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.

对duìopposite
岸ànbank

对 gives an opposite sense, and 岸 is a bank, so the whole means the opposite bank.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 對; 对 is its simplified writing.

For the traditional form 對, the shape comes from an early drawing of 丵 (a digging tool), 土 (earth), and 又 (a hand); it may have meant developing land.

Open 对 →

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
屵屵àncliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān岸àn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

岸 shows 屵, a cliff, next to 干, which gives a clue to the sound; together they point to the edge of land.

Open 岸 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Geography & Landforms

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