谈天 (tán tiān) — to chat; to have a casual conversation

Definition

谈天 (tántiān) is a casual, relaxed chat about everyday things. It's more leisurely than 聊天 and doesn't aim at any goal.

verb
to chatto have a casual conversation

Examples

  • 谈天。
    Wǒ men zhǎo gè shí jiān tán tiān ba.
    Let's find some time to chat.
  • 。
    Wǒ men tán le yí huì r tiān.
    We chatted for a while.
  • 谈天。
    Tā xǐ huan hé péng you tán tiān.
    He likes to chat with friends.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

谈tántalk
天tiānsky

谈 means 'talk' and 天 means 'sky', giving the image of talking about the sky, hence casual chat.

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 談; 谈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
炎
炎yán談tán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 谈, the traditional form 談 pairs 言 (speech) with 炎 (yán) as the sound part.

Open 谈 →

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 →

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