HSK 6 · Function Words

大体 dàtǐ “on the whole” in Chinese

Traditional 大體

What 大体 means

  1. on the whole
  2. in general
  3. roughly
  4. more or less
  5. in rough terms
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • basically
  • overall situation
  • the big picture

How to say 大体

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale大dà4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale体tǐ3rd tone, dipping

大体 in a sentence

  1. 在那个时代，男女发式大体相似。

    Zài nà ge shídài, nánnǚ fàshì dàtǐ xiāngsì.

    In that era, men’s and women’s hairstyles were broadly similar.

    Sentence #6475467 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 他的意见大体上说是对的。

    Tā de yìjiàn dàtǐ shàng shuō shì duì de.

    His opinion is broadly correct.

    Sentence #346175 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 大体 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 大 (dà) with each of its parts in a different colour
大dàbig; large; great
  • 一one · yī
  • 人person · rén

Memory aidA person standing with arms stretched wide: big.

The character 体 (tǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
体tǐbody
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 本root · běn

Memory aidA person 亻 and a root 本: the body.

How to write 大体

大 3 strokes · 体 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

大体 (dàtǐ) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 大体 (dàtǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 大体

Words with 大

大dà · big大学dàxué · university大学生dàxuéshēng · university student大家dàjiā · everyone大人dàren · adult大衣dàyī · overcoat大小dàxiǎo · size大熊猫dàxióngmāo · giant panda大夫dàifu · doctor大概dàgài · roughly

Words with 体

身体shēntǐ · body体育tǐyù · physical training体育馆tǐyùguǎn · gymnasium体会tǐhuì · to know from experience体贴tǐtiē · considerate (of other people’s needs)体现tǐxiàn · to embody体验tǐyàn · to experience for oneself具体jùtǐ · specific集体jítǐ · collective (decision)媒体méitǐ · media

More words: Function Words & Grammar

除chú · except大不了dàbuliǎo · at worst当面dāngmiàn · face to face大肆dàsì · wantonly大致dàzhì · roughly栋dòng · measure word for buildings而已éryǐ · that’s all番fān · (measure word for actions or efforts)

FAQs

大体 (dàtǐ) means “on the whole” or “in general”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it dàtǐ: dà with a 4th tone, then tǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 大体 is written 大體. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dati with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 大体 from the suggestions. Typing dati into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
大体 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.