大都市 (dà dū shì) — metropolis; large city

Definition

noun

metropolislarge city

Measure word · 座

大都市。
Shàng hǎi shì yí zuò guó jì huà dà dū shì.
Shanghai is an international metropolis.
大都市。
dà dū shì De shēng huó jié zòu tōng cháng hěn kuài.
The pace of life in a metropolis is usually very fast.
大都市。
Xǔ duō nián qīng rén xuǎn zé qù dà dū shì gōng zuò.
Many young people choose to work in a large city.

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.

都市city

联合Coordinate

大 means large and 都市 means city, yielding a metropolis.

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.

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

邑邑yìtown, city

Sound part声符shēngfú

者

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

都 is built from 者, which supplies the sound, and 邑, meaning town or city.

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

兮兮xībustling

Sound part声符shēngfú

之

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The old form 市 pairs 兮, meaning bustling, with 之, the sound part.

Appears in