啤酒 (pí jiǔ) — beer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

beer

Measure word · 杯, 瓶, 罐, 桶, 缸

Examples

啤酒。
Wǒ hē le yì píng pí jiǔ.
I drank a bottle of beer.
，啤酒。
Tiān rè de shí hou, tā xǐ huan hē bīng pí jiǔ.
In hot weather, he likes to drink cold beer.
啤酒。
Tā men měi rén hē le liǎng guàn pí jiǔ.
Each of them drank two cans of beer.

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.

酒jiǔalcohol

啤 gives the name beer and 酒 means alcoholic drink.

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.

口卑啤

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth (phonetic)

Sound part声符shēngfú

卑

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

啤 combines 口 (mouth) with 卑, which gives the sound bēi.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

酉

酉yǒu酒jiǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

酒 pairs 酉, the original picture for this word, with 水 (water), added later to distinguish it.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 3 HSK 2.0 Level 3 Alcohol & Tobacco 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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