改日 (gǎi rì) — another day; some other day | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

'Another day' — like 改天, but 日 is the written/formal register, while 改天 (天 'sky/day') is the everyday spoken choice.

adverb

another daysome other day

Examples

改日。
gǎi rì Wǒ men yì qǐ qù chī fàn ba.
Let's eat together another day.
，改日。
Jīn tiān méi shí jiān, gǎi rì zài shuō.
I don't have time today; let's talk about it another day.
改日。
gǎi rì Wǒ yí dìng lái bài fǎng nǐ men.
I will definitely come to visit you another day.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

改 means change and 日 means day, so 改日 points to a changed day, another day.

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

攴攴pū

Sound part声符shēngfú

巳

巳sì改gǎi

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early form of 改 paired 巳 as a sound part with 攴 as a meaning part; the sound part later changed.

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Time (Abstract)

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