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普通 (pǔ tōng) — common; ordinary; average

Definition

普通 describes everyday things or people as 'common, ordinary, average' — neither special nor unusual. Generally neutral or slightly negative; 普遍 stresses 'widespread' across many cases, while 平常 is more about routine daily life.

adjective
commonordinaryaverage

Examples

  • 。
    Tā zhǐ shì yí gè pǔ tōng rén.
    He is just an ordinary person.
  • 普通。
    Zhè zhòng cài zài chāo shì hěn pǔ tōng.
    This kind of vegetable is very common in supermarkets.
  • 普通。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu yàng zi hěn pǔ tōng.
    This piece of clothing looks very ordinary.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

普pǔgeneral
通tōngcommon

‘普’ means general and ‘通’ means common, together describing something ordinary.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 並並bìngside by side
  • 日日rìsun

普 is made of 日 (sun) and 並 (side by side).

Open 普 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng通tōng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

Open 通 →
Appears in
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