不同 (bù tóng) — different; not the same | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

不同 marks a contrast between two things — 'A is different from B'. It is neutral and factual, where 差 focuses on being worse/inferior and 明显 on being clearly visible.

phrase

differentnot the same

Examples

不同。
Zhè liǎng gè píng guǒ yán sè bù tóng.
These two apples are different in color.
不同。
Wǒ hé tā de xiǎng fǎ bù tóng.
My idea and his are different.
不同。
Tā men lái zì bù tóng de xué xiào.
They come from different schools.

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.

不 means not and 同 means same, so the word means different.

Characters in this word

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

Appears in

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