整年 (zhěng nián) — the whole year, the entire year | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

整年 means 'the whole year, all year long,' emphasizing an unbroken, complete span of time. Unlike specific durations like 一年, it is typically used before 都 to stress continuity across the entire year.

noun

the whole yearthe entire year

Examples

整年。
Tā zhěng nián dōu zài xué xí hàn yǔ.
He studied Chinese the whole year.
整年。
Tā men gōng sī zhěng nián dōu hěn máng.
Their company is busy the whole year.
整年。
Tā zhěng nián zhī qǐng le sān tiān jiǎ.
She only took three days off the whole year.

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.

整 means whole and 年 means year: the entire year.

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.

敕正整

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng整zhěng

Same sound today

整 pairs 敕 as the meaning side with 正 as the sound side.

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

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

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

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Appears in

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