十三日 (shí sān rì) — 13th day of the month

Definition

noun
13th day of the month
Easily confused

Examples

  • 十三日。
    Huì yì dìng zài shí sān rì shàng wǔ shí diǎn.
    The meeting is scheduled for the 10 a.m. on the 13th.
  • 十三日。
    Tā de shēng rì shì shí sān rì.
    Her birthday is on the 13th.
  • 十三日，。
    shí sān rì Shì jié zhǐ rì qī, bié wàng le jiāo zuò yè.
    The 13th is the deadline — don't forget to submit your homework.

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.

十三thirteen
十shíten三sānthree
联合Side by side
日rìday

十三 gives thirteen and 日 gives the day, so it means the thirteenth day of a month.

Characters in this word

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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.

Open 三 →

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

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