大踏步 (dà tà bù) — with big strides; striding forward

Definition

Used as an adverbial to mean 'in big strides' or 'with forceful, confident progress'. Pairs with motion verbs like 走, 前进 to emphasize rapid, determined advance (often metaphorical, e.g. in development or reform).

noun
with big stridesstriding forward

Examples

  • 大踏步。
    Wǒ men dà tà bù xiàng qián zǒu.
    We strode forward.
  • 大踏步。
    Zhōng guó zài kē jì lǐng yù dà tà bù qián jìn.
    China is striding forward in the field of technology.
  • 大踏步。
    Tā dà tà bù zǒu chū huì yì shì.
    He strode out of the meeting room.

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.

大dàbig
踏步stepping motion
踏tàtread步bùstep
动宾Verb + object

大 gives big to 踏步, a stepping motion, so the phrase pictures taking long strides.

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
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
沓
沓tà踏
Same sound today

踏 has 足 (foot) as its left part to show a foot-related meaning, and 沓 as its right part to give the sound.

Open 踏 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

步 uses two 止 (foot) forms, one reversed, to show one foot stepping in front of the other.

Open 步 →

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