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一天到晚 (yī tiān dào wǎn) — all day long, the whole day (often implying impatience or excessive duration)

Definition

An adverbial phrase meaning 'all day long, from morning to night' — usually carries a sense of complaint or weariness about something going on too much. Colloquial and often used to scold or express annoyance.

verb
all day longthe whole day (often implying impatience or excessive duration)

Examples

  • 一天到晚，。
    Tā yī tiān dào wǎn dōu zài gōng sī jiā bān, fēi cháng xīn kǔ.
    He works overtime at the company all day long — it's really tough.
  • 一天到晚，。
    Bié yī tiān dào wǎn kàn shǒu jī le, chū qù huó dòng huó dòng ba.
    Don't stare at your phone all day — go out and get some exercise.
  • 一天到晚，？
    Zhè hái zi yī tiān dào wǎn dì kū, shì bu shì bìng le?
    This child cries all day long — could he be sick?

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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 →

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
至至zhìto arrive
Sound part声符shēngfú
刀
刀dāo到dào
Same sound today

到 combines 至, meaning 'to arrive', with 刀 as the sound part. The 至 part points to the idea of reaching a stopping point.

Open 到 →

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
日日rì
Sound part声符shēngfú
免
免miǎn晚wǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

晚 pairs 日, the sun part, with 免, which supplies the sound.

Open 晚 →
Appears in
Frequency & Duration

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