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当面 (dāng miàn) — to sb.'s face; in sb.'s presence; face to face

Definition

Means 'to someone's face' — directly, in their presence. Different from 当众 ('in front of everyone'); an 当场 action happens at the scene, but may not be addressed to a specific person.

adverb
to sb.'s facein sb.'s presenceface to face

Examples

  • 。
    Tā bù gǎn dāng miàn chéng rèn cuò wù.
    He doesn't dare to admit his mistake face to face.
  • 当面。
    Wǒ men yīng gāi dāng miàn bǎ shì qing shuō qīng chǔ.
    We should explain things clearly face to face.
  • 当面。
    Tā dāng miàn pī píng le nà ge xué shēng.
    She criticized that student to his face.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

当dāngface
面miànface

当 means to face, and 面 means face; together they indicate being in someone’s presence.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 當; 当 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng當dāng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 當 combines 田 (field) with 尚; the evidence describes fields facing each other.

Open 当 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Communication & Speech

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