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年代 (nián dài) — decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties); era, age, period

Definition

年代 means a historical decade (e.g. the 1980s) or a broad era — wider in time than 时代, which marks a distinct period with its own character. Use 年龄 or 年纪 for a person's age, not 年代.

noun
decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties)eraageperiod
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 年代。
    Èr shí shì jì bā shí nián dài yǒu hěn duō xīn fā míng.
    The 1980s had many new inventions.
  • 年代。
    Zhàn zhēng nián dài rén men shēng huó hěn kùn nan.
    During the war era, people's lives were very difficult.
  • 年代。
    Nà ge nián dài de yīn yuè wǒ dōu hěn xǐ huan.
    I like all the music from that era.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

年niányear
代dàiera

年 contributes years and 代 contributes eras, together indicating a period or decade.

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
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

Open 年 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
弋
弋yì代dài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 代, 亻 shows a person, and 弋 gives the sound.

Open 代 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5HistoryTime (Abstract)2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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