TongTong
Sign in

大陆 (Dà lù) — mainland China (the PRC, especially in contrast to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau)

Definition

大陆 usually means 'mainland China,' the PRC contrasted with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Compared to 内地, it more specifically marks the political mainland, while 内地 can also mean 'inland area' within China.

noun
mainland China (the PRC, especially in contrast to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau)
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 大陆。
    Hěn duō tái wān rén xǐ huan lái Dà lù lǚ yóu.
    Many Taiwanese people like to travel to mainland China.
  • 大陆。
    Dà lù De jīng jì zài guò qù jǐ shí nián lǐ fā zhǎn dé hěn kuài.
    The mainland's economy has developed very rapidly in the past few decades.
  • 大陆，。
    Tā cóng Dà lù lái dào xiāng gǎng, jué de zhè lǐ de wén huà hěn bù tóng.
    He came from mainland China to Hong Kong and finds the culture here very different.

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dàgreat
陆lùland

大 describes 陆 as the large landmass, hence the mainland.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陸; 陆 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
坴
坴lù陸lù
Same sound today

The traditional form 陸 uses 阝 (written in full as 阜) for the meaning and 坴 for the sound; the simplified 陆 is a later shorthand.

Open 陆 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9China — Places

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.