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.
大dàbig; large; great
一one · yī
人person · rén
Memory aidA person standing with arms stretched wide: big.
意yìidea; thought; meaning; sense
音sound · yīnSound part
心heart · xīnMeaning part
心 hints at the meaning (heart); 音 (yīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with yì.
Memory aidA sound 音 from the heart 心: a thought, a meaning.
How to write 大意
大 3 strokes · 意 13 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 大意 (dàyì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
大意 (dàyì) means “general idea” or “gist”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it dàyì: dà with a 4th tone, then yì with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 大意 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dayi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 大意 from the suggestions. Typing dayi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
大意 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.
大dà4th tone, falling
