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天上 (tiān shàng) — the sky above; the heavens; heaven

Definition

天上 means 'the sky above / the heavens,' used like a location ('in the sky'). Unlike 天空 ('sky' as a noun for the expanse), 天上 emphasizes the position above us; 天堂 is the religious heaven.

noun
the sky abovethe heavensheaven
Easily confused

Examples

  • 天上。
    Xiǎo niǎo zài tiān shàng zì yóu dì fēi.
    Little birds fly freely in the sky.
  • ，天上。
    Wǎn shàng, tiān shàng yǒu hěn duō xīng xing.
    At night, there are many stars in the sky.
  • 天上。
    Fēng zheng zài tiān shàng fēi dé hěn gāo.
    The kite flies very high in the sky.

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.

天tiānsky
上shàngupper part

天 names the sky and 上 names the upper part; together they mean the upper part of the sky, or heaven.

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →
Appears in
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