三流 (sān liú) — third-rate quality, low grade (as a noun in ran… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

third-rate qualitylow grade (as a noun in ranking or quality)

Examples

三流。
Zhè suǒ dà xué shì sān liú dà xué.
This university is a third-rate university.
三流。
Tā de zuò pǐn zhǐ néng suàn sān liú.
His work can only be considered third-rate.
三流。
Zhè jiā jiǔ diàn de fú wù shì sān liú de.
The service at this hotel is third-rate.

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.

The character 三 marks third, and 流 indicates a grade or class, expressing third-rate quality.

Characters in this word

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

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

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

水水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

㐬

㐬㐬流liú

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Appears in

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