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阵雨 (zhèn yǔ) — brief rain shower

Definition

阵雨 is a short, passing rain shower — much lighter and briefer than 暴雨 (torrential rain). Contrast with 风雨, which pairs wind and rain, often figuratively for life's hardships.

noun
brief rain shower
Measure word · 阵

Examples

  • 阵雨。
    Tiān qì yù bào shuō xià wǔ yǒu zhèn yǔ.
    The weather forecast says there will be a shower in the afternoon.
  • 阵雨。
    Gāng cái nà chǎng zhèn yǔ xià dé zhēn dà.
    That shower just now was really heavy.
  • 阵雨，。
    zhèn yǔ Tíng le, wǒ men chū qù zǒu zǒu ba.
    The shower has stopped; let's go out for a walk.

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.

阵zhènburst
雨yǔrain

阵 marks a short burst and 雨 is rain, so 阵雨 is a brief shower.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陣; 阵 is its simplified writing.

  • 東東dōngsack?
  • 東東dōng
  • 攴攴pū

In the traditional form 陣, a left-side part was added to a shortened 東; the older shape also used 攴. The simplified 阵 is a later shorthand.

Open 阵 →

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

The shape 雨 is an old picture of a cloud with rain drops falling from it; the top line was added later.

Open 雨 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Weather

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