大有人在 (dà yǒu rén zài) — there are plenty of such people; such persons are by no means rare

Definition

Idiomatic verb phrase meaning 'there are plenty of such people' — emphasizes that a type of person is far from rare. Used predicatively at the end of a clause, not as a subject.

verb
there are plenty of such peoplesuch persons are by no means rare

Examples

  • 大有人在。
    Xiàng tā zhè yàng qín fèn de xué shēng dà yǒu rén zài.
    There are plenty of hardworking students like him.
  • ，。
    Bié dān xīn, fǎn duì zhè ge jì huà de rén dà yǒu rén zài.
    Don't worry, there are plenty of people who oppose this plan.
  • ，。
    Zài zhè ge háng yè lǐ, yǒu shí nián jīng yàn de rén dà yǒu rén zài.
    In this industry, people with ten years of experience are not rare.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The early form of 在 used 才 for its sound; a second sound part 士 was added later, and that 士 became the 土 seen in 在.

Open 在 →

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