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树林 (shù lín) — woods; forest

Definition

树林 is a small area of trees — a grove or woods, smaller than 森林 (a large, dense forest). Use it for a patch of trees you can walk through, not for vast wilderness.

noun
woodsforest
Measure word · 片

Examples

  • 树林，。
    Wǒ men chuān guò yí piàn shù lín, lái dào le hú biān.
    We walked through a woods and arrived at the lakeside.
  • 树林，。
    shù lín Lǐ kōng qì hěn hǎo, shì hé pǎo bù.
    The air in the woods is good; it's suitable for jogging.
  • 树林？
    Nà piàn shù lín lǐ yǒu dòng wù ma?
    Are there animals in that woods?

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.

树shùtree
林línwoods

树 means tree and 林 means woods; together they describe a woods made up of trees.

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 樹; 树 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
尌
尌shù樹shù
Same sound today

Originally 尌, 'to plant a tree', was written alone; the traditional form 樹 adds 木, 'tree', to it to differentiate.

Open 树 →

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

林 is made of two 木 (tree) placed side by side, showing many trees together, hence a forest.

Open 林 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4Trees & Forest5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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