阴天 (yīn tiān) — overcast sky; cloudy day

Definition

noun
overcast skycloudy day
Easily confused

Examples

  • 阴天，。
    Jīn tiān yīn tiān, kě néng huì xià yǔ.
    It's overcast today; it might rain.
  • 阴天，。
    Wǒ bù xǐ huan yīn tiān, xīn qíng bù hǎo.
    I don't like cloudy days; my mood is bad.
  • 阴天，。
    yīn tiān De shí hou, jì de dài sǎn.
    On overcast days, remember to bring an umbrella.

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.

阴yīncloudy
天tiānsky/day

阴 means cloudy or dim, and 天 means sky or day, so together they describe an overcast 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陰; 阴 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
侌
侌yīn陰yīn
Same sound today

The traditional form 陰 combines 阜, the meaning part, with 侌, the sound part. The simplified 阴 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 阴 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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