干红 (gān hóng) — dry red wine

Definition

Short for 干红葡萄酒 — 'dry red wine' (干 = dry, no residual sugar; 红 = red grape). Contrast with 甜酒 (sweet wine) in the examples.

noun
dry red wine
Measure word · 瓶

Examples

  • 干红。
    Jīn wǎn wǒ men hē yì píng gān hóng ba.
    Let's drink a bottle of dry red wine tonight.
  • 干红。
    Zhè jiā cān tīng de gān hóng wèi dào bú cuò.
    The dry red wine at this restaurant tastes pretty good.
  • 干红，。
    Tā xǐ huan gān hóng, bù xǐ huan tián jiǔ.
    He likes dry red wine, not sweet wine.

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.

干gāndry
红hóngred

干 (dry) + 红 (red): dry red wine.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

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 紅; 红 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìsilk
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng紅hóng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 紅 puts 糸 (silk) next to 工, which gives the sound; the simplified 红 is a later shorthand.

Open 红 →

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