四十二 (sì shí èr) — forty-two

Definition

numeral
forty-two
Easily confused

Examples

  • 四十二。
    Zhè běn shū de chū bǎn nián fèn shì yī jiǔ bā sì shí èr nián.
    The publication year of this book is 1982.
  • 四十二。
    Tā yòng le sì shí èr fēn zhōng pǎo wán le shí gōng lǐ.
    He finished running ten kilometers in forty-two minutes.
  • 四十二，。
    Jiào shì lǐ yǒu sì shí èr bǎ yǐ zi, zhèng hǎo gòu yòng.
    There are forty-two chairs in the classroom, just enough.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

四十forty
四sìfour十shíten
偏正Modifier + head
二èrtwo

四 means four and 十 means ten, making forty; 二 means two, so it reads forty-two.

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 →

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.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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