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影片 (yǐng piàn) — film, movie

Definition

影片 is a more formal or written term for 'film/movie' than 电影, which is the everyday word. It often suggests a released, complete work (e.g. foreign 影片).

noun
filmmovie
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 影片。
    Zhè bù yǐng piàn hěn yǒu yì si.
    This film is very interesting.
  • 影片。
    Wǒ kàn le yí bù lǎo yǐng piàn.
    I watched an old movie.
  • 影片？
    Nǐ xǐ huan kàn wài guó yǐng piàn ma?
    Do you like watching foreign films?

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.

影yǐngimage
片piànpiece

影 suggests a moving image, and 片 suggests a piece; together they name a film as a piece of images.

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
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Film & Theater5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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