生疼 (shēng téng) — excruciatingly painful

Definition

生疼 (shēng téng) is an adverbial intensifier used before or after a verb to mean 'aching, hurting badly'. It stresses the severity of pain rather than describing a state.

verb
excruciatingly painful
Easily confused

Examples

  • 生疼，。
    Wǒ de yá shēng téng, lián fàn dōu chī bù liǎo.
    My tooth is excruciatingly painful; I can't even eat.
  • ，生疼。
    Shuāi le yì jiāo, xī gài kē dé shēng téng.
    I fell and banged my knee, and it hurts like hell.
  • ，生疼。
    Zhè shuāng xié jiá jiǎo, zǒu le jǐ bù jiǎo jiù shēng téng.
    These shoes pinch my feet; after just a few steps my feet are killing me.

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.

生shēngvery
疼téngpain

“生” (very) + “疼” (pain): very painful.

Characters in this word

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 →

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
疒疒nèsickness
Sound part声符shēngfú
冬
冬dōng疼téng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

疼 pairs 疒, a sickness marker, with 冬, which supplies the sound.

Open 疼 →

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