五月份 (wǔ yuè fèn) — May (the fifth month)

Definition

noun

May (the fifth month)

五月份。
Wǒ dǎ suàn wǔ yuè fèn qù běi jīng.
I plan to go to Beijing in May.
五月份。
wǔ yuè fèn De tiān qì hěn shū fu.
The weather in May is very comfortable.
五月份。
Wǒ men wǔ yuè fèn yǒu yí gè zhòng yào de huì yì.
We have an important meeting in May.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

五月fifth month

偏正Modifier + head

五 gives the number five and 月 gives month, so 五月 names the fifth month; 份 presents it as a month word.

Characters in this word

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

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

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

月 was drawn as a crescent moon, with the curved outline showing the moon’s shape.

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

亻分份

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

分

分fēn份fèn(r)

Same sound today

份 is built from 亻, the person form written in full as 人, and 分, which gives the sound.

Appears in