Learn Chinese Characters 146 的

的




It has two pronounciation. When it means "the target of an arrow", it prounces "dì". When it used after an attribute, it pronounces "de". It is difficult to trace its original meaning, but it definately has something to do with "bright" or "clear", since its left part is the character "日", which was later changed into "白". It is also evident that the meaning of "target of an arrow" is an oder usage. In modern Chinese, the character "的" is more popular on gramal roles or structure instead of  indicating a real meaning.


Useful Phrases:

一语中的 （yì yǔ zhōng dì  ）make a pointed comment
圆圆的脸 （yuán yuán de liǎn ）a round face
干净的屋子 （gān jìng de wū zi ）a clean room
我的书 （wǒ de shū ）my book