六七年 (liù qī nián) — (time) six or seven years; between six and seve…

Definition

noun

(time) six or seven yearsbetween six and seven years

六七年。
Tā zài zhè lǐ zhù le liù qī nián.
He lived here for six or seven years.
六七年。
Wǒ rèn shi tā liù qī nián le.
I have known him for six or seven years.
六七年。
Zhè ge xiàng mù xū yào liù qī nián cái néng wán chéng.
This project needs six or seven years to complete.

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.

六七

联合Side by side

“六” and “七” stand side by side to mean six or seven, and “年” supplies the unit year.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

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.