四五年 (sì wǔ nián) — a period of four or five years; (historical) the year 1945 or the period 1945–1949

Definition

Reads literally as 'four or five years' but commonly refers to the 1945–1949 period (the late civil war and early PRC era). With a number like 段 or 那, it points to that historical stretch.

noun
a period of four or five years(historical) the year 1945 or the period 1945–1949

Examples

  • 四五年。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù gū jì xū yào sì wǔ nián cái néng wán chéng.
    This project is estimated to take four or five years to complete.
  • 四五年。
    sì wǔ nián Shì zhōng guó jìn dài shǐ shàng de zhuǎn zhé diǎn.
    The years from 1945 to 1949 were a turning point in modern Chinese history.
  • 四五年。
    Tā duì sì wǔ nián nà duàn lì shǐ zuò le hěn duō yán jiū.
    He has done a lot of research on the historical period of 1945–1949.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 四 was drawn as a nose breathing out. It later came to be used for the word four.

Open 四 →

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.

Open 五 →

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.

Open 年 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.