一年到头 (yī nián dào tóu) — all year round; throughout the year; year-round

Definition

A fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'all year round, throughout the whole year' — used to emphasize an unbroken span of time. Functions as a time adverb and typically sits before the verb, never as a noun phrase.

noun
all year roundthroughout the yearyear-round

Examples

  • 一年到头。
    Tā yī nián dào tóu dōu zài wèi gōng zuò bēn bō.
    He is busy running around for work all year round.
  • 一年到头，。
    yī nián dào tóu, Zhè lǐ de qì hòu dōu fēi cháng wēn hé.
    Throughout the year, the climate here is very mild.
  • 一年到头。
    Zhè xiē lǎo rén yī nián dào tóu jiān chí duàn liàn shēn tǐ.
    These elderly people insist on exercising all year round.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

一年one year
一yīone年niányear
偏正Modifier + head
到头reach the end
到dàoreach头tóuend
动宾Verb + object

一年 means 'one year', and 到头 adds 'reach the end', covering the whole year.

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
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.

Open 年 →

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

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