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当众 (dāng zhòng) — in public; in front of everybody

Definition

当众 (dāngzhòng) means doing something 'in front of everyone' — neutral in tone, just the public setting. 公然 adds a sense of brazenness; 当面 means 'to someone's face', directed at a person.

adverb
in publicin front of everybody

Examples

  • 。
    Tā bù gǎn zài huì yì shàng dāng zhòng fā yán.
    He doesn't dare to speak in public at the meeting.
  • 当众。
    Tā dāng zhòng xuān bù le cí zhí de jué dìng.
    She announced her resignation decision in front of everyone.
  • 当众，。
    Nǐ dāng zhòng pī píng bié rén, huì ràng duì fāng hěn nán kān.
    Criticizing others in public will make them very embarrassed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

当dāngbefore
众zhòngcrowd

当 (before) and 众 (crowd) combine to mean in front of everyone.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 當; 当 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng當dāng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 當 combines 田 (field) with 尚; the evidence describes fields facing each other.

Open 当 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 眾; 众 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 眾 shows three people under a sun-like shape, meaning a crowd gathered under the sun; the simplified 众 is a later shorthand.

Open 众 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Society & Public Life

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