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白天 (bái tiān) — daytime; during the day

Definition

白天 means 'daytime' — the stretch of hours between dawn and night. Unlike 天 or 日 (which can mean a 24-hour period or 'date'), 白天 focuses specifically on the time when it is light.

noun
daytimeduring the day
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 白天。
    bái tiān Wǒ qù kàn shū.
    I go read during the day.
  • 白天。
    Jīn tiān bái tiān hěn rè.
    It's very hot during the day today.
  • 白天？
    Nǐ bái tiān zài jiā ma?
    Are you home during the day?

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.

白báibright
天tiānday

白 (bright) modifies 天 (day), giving daytime.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →
Appears in
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