骤雨 (zhòu yǔ) — sudden rainstorm | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

sudden rainstorm

Measure word · 场

Easily confused

骤雨。
Zuó tiān xià wǔ tū rán xià le yì chǎng zhòu yǔ.
Yesterday afternoon a sudden rainstorm suddenly arrived.
骤雨，。
zhòu yǔ Lái de kuài, qù dé yě kuài.
A sudden rainstorm comes quickly and goes quickly too.
，骤雨。
Tā men méi dài sǎn, bèi zhòu yǔ lín shī le.
They didn't bring umbrellas and got soaked by the sudden rainstorm.

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.

骤 means sudden and 雨 means rain, together denoting a sudden rainstorm.

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 驟; 骤 is its simplified writing.

馬聚驟

Meaning part形符xíngfú

馬馬mǎhorse

Sound part声符shēngfú

聚

聚jù驟zhòu

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 驟 uses 馬 to show the idea of a horse and 聚 for its sound; the simplified 骤 is a later shorthand.

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

The shape 雨 is an old picture of a cloud with rain drops falling from it; the top line was added later.