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地方 (dì fang) — place, location, area; room, space (available capacity)

Definition

地方 (dìfang) means 'place' or 'room' in everyday speech. 地点 is a more formal synonym for a specific location; 地方 is the casual default. As a second sense, it also means 'room' in the sense of available space (车里没地方坐).

noun
placelocationarearoomspace (available capacity)
Measure word · 处, 个, 块
Easily confused

Examples

  • 地方？
    Nǐ xǐ huan zhè ge dì fang ma?
    Do you like this place?
  • 地方。
    Zhè ge dì fang fù jìn yǒu shāng diàn.
    There is a store near this place.
  • 地方。
    Chē lǐ méi yǒu dì fang fàng dōng xī le.
    There's no room in the car to put things.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

地dìplace
方fāngarea

地 and 方 both refer to an area or place, so the word means a place or region.

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 方 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3500 Most Frequent Chinese WordsHSK 2.0 Level 31000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsDirections2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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