千万 (qiān wàn) — (adverb) must, by all means (used in imperative sentences to emphasize necessity or prohibition)

Definition

As an adverb, 千万 (qiān wàn) means 'by all means / absolutely must' — used before an imperative to stress a warning or strong request, as in 千万别迟到 ("be sure not to be late"). Unlike 好多/许多/无数, it is not a quantifier meaning 'many'.

adverb
mustby all means (used in imperative sentences to emphasize necessity or prohibition)

Examples

  • 千万
    Nǐ qiān wàn bié chí dào!
    You absolutely must not be late!
  • 千万
    qiān wàn Jì zhù dài yào shi.
    Be sure to remember to bring the keys.
  • 千万
    Guò mǎ lù shí qiān wàn yào xiǎo xīn.
    When crossing the street, you must be very careful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

qiānthousand
wànten thousand

千 (thousand) and 万 (ten thousand) both evoke many times, so in requests they mean absolutely.

Characters in this word

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
one, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
rénqiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

Grammar

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