一整天 (yī zhěng tiān) — whole day; entire day | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

whole dayentire day

Examples

，一整天。
Wèi le wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù, wǒ máng le yī zhěng tiān.
I was busy the whole day to finish this project.
一整天，。
yī zhěng tiān Dōu zài xià yǔ, wǒ men méi chū mén.
It rained the entire day, so we didn't go out.
一整天，。
Tā jīn tiān yī zhěng tiān méi chī dōng xī, zhī hē le shuǐ.
He didn't eat anything the whole day today, only drank water.

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.

整天whole day

整zhěngwhole天tiānday

偏正Modifier + head

一 means one, 整 means whole, and 天 means day, giving one whole day.

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.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

敕正整

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng整zhěng

Same sound today

整 pairs 敕 as the meaning side with 正 as the sound side.

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

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.

Appears in

Frequency & Duration Time of Day 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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