天
tiān
Pinyin
Definition
天
-
- day
- sky
- heaven
Character Decomposition
Compounds (12)
- 1 surname Guan
- 1 mountain pass
- 2 to close
- 3 to shut
- 4 to turn off
- 5 to concern
- 6 to involve
- 1 surname Wu
- 2 area comprising southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and Shanghai
- 3 name of states in Southern China at different historical periods
- 1 to play music
- 2 to achieve
- 3 to present a memorial to the emperor (old)
- 1 to swallow
- 2 to take
Idioms (20)
一人得道,鸡犬升天
- 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
- 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
- 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
- 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一个天南,一个地北
- 1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一柱擎天
- 1 lit. to support the sky as a single pillar (idiom)
- 2 fig. to take a crucial responsibility upon one's shoulders
一步登天
- 1 reaching heaven in a single bound (idiom); (esp. with negative: don't expect) instant success
三天不打,上房揭瓦
- 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
- 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
Sample Sentences
现在很多学生,上课的时候不是在打盹儿,就是在和哥们儿聊天儿,没几个好好儿听课、把老师当回事儿的。老师们看了,很不是滋味儿。
Nowadays many students either take naps in class, or chat with their friends. Few of them would listen to the class carefully and take the teacher seriously. The teachers saw and felt sad about it.
明儿你就给我出门儿去找工作,别成天赖在家里。没个正经工作,我看你上哪儿找媳妇儿!
Tomorrow You’re gonna go out and get a job. Don’t stay home all day. If you don’t have a serious job, I’ll see where you can find a wife!
这部电影天马行空,很有想法。
This movie is bizarre. There are a lot of ideas in this movie.
天马行空
Lit:A legendary horse flies in the air. Fig: Surreal.
达利的画天马行空,大家都看不懂。
Dali’s paintings are bizarre. Nobody understands them.
他的字天马行空,非常好看。
His handwriting is artistic. It’s beautiful.
今天时间不够,我们只好走马看花。
We don’t have enough time today. We can only rush through sightseeing.
差不多先生的名字,天天挂在大家的口头,因为他是中国全国人的代表。
Every day, Mr. Chabuduo's name is uttered by countless people to the extent that he has come to represent the entire population of China.
我今天晚上又要加班了。
I have to work overtime again tonight.
今天的表演几点开始?
At what time does today's performance start?