TongTong
Sign in

地面 (dì miàn) — ground; floor (the solid surface of the earth or a room); floor (of a building, indoors)

Definition

地面 (dìmiàn) means the ground surface or the floor of a room — both outdoors and indoors in one word. Contrast 地板, which specifically names the floor material/boards of a building, and 地面, which is the surface you walk on in any space.

noun
groundfloor (the solid surface of the earth or a room)floor (of a building, indoors)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 地面。
    Qǐng bǎ dì miàn cā gān jìng.
    Please wipe the floor clean.
  • 地面。
    Tā zuò zài dì miàn shàng kàn shū.
    He sat on the ground reading on the ground.
  • 地面。
    Qiú diào dào le dì miàn shàng.
    The ball fell onto the ground.

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.

地dìground
面miànsurface

地 refers to earth or ground, 面 to surface; together they mean the surface of the ground.

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 →

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Geography & Landforms5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.