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字 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 
The Character You Just Learned is Also a Common Word!

Usage 1 - "letter (e.g. of the alphabet), character": 

*Sentence:

这个句子由五个字组成。

English:

This sentence is made up of five characters.

Top-Down Words:

五 wǔ - five
由…组成 - yóu…zǔchéng- to be made up of (direct translation: “of [object] made up”)



Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words


Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

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Christopher Thompson

这个句子由五个字组成。
Is that true? What's the count?
这个(1)句子(2)由(3.a)五个(4)字(5)组成(3.b)
像那样?

Mandarin Blueprint

Haha, we can assume that the speaker is referencing a separate sentence since there are 10 characters (not five) in "这个句子由五个字组成." 字 refers to individual characters, whereas 词 cí refers to words (one-character or multi-character).

Christopher Thompson

Okay, that's what I had always assumed 字 meant. So, if the sentence were meant to be self referential (very meta) it should say...
这个句子由十个字组成。

 

Great Job! Keep Going! 汉字 in Context
Comments   2

Keith Travis

这个句子由五个字组成

This sentence by five characters is complete.

REPLY

Mandarin Blueprint

"This sentence is made up of 5 characters" or "this sentence of five characters is made up of"

REPLY