HSK 6 · Adjectives

短促 duǎncù “brief” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 短促 means

  1. brief
  2. short
  3. fleeting
  4. short in time
  5. gasping (breath)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • curt (tone of voice)

How to say 短促

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale短duǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale促cù4th tone, falling

短促 in a sentence

  1. 他的呼吸很短促。

    Tā de hūxī hěn duǎncù.

    His breathing was short and quick.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 冬天的白天很短促。

    Dōngtiān de báitiān hěn duǎncù.

    The days are very short in winter.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 短促 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 短 (duǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
短duǎnshort
  • 矢arrow · shǐMeaning part
  • 豆bean · dòuSound part

矢 hints at the meaning (arrow); 豆 (dòu) hints at the sound. Compare it with duǎn.

Memory aidArrows 矢 were once used to measure short lengths. 豆 (dòu) gives the sound: short.

The character 促 (cù) with each of its parts in a different colour
促cùof short duration; hasty; rapid
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 足foot · zú

How to write 短促

短 12 strokes · 促 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 短促

Words with 短

短duǎn · short in length短裤duǎnkù · shorts短信duǎnxìn · text message缩短suōduǎn · to shorten

Words with 促

促进cùjìn · to promote (an idea or cause)促使cùshǐ · to induce督促dūcù · to supervise and urge仓促cāngcù · hurried

More words: Adjectives

得力délì · capable得天独厚détiāndúhòu · richly endowed by nature典型diǎnxíng · typical丢三落四diūsānlàsì · forgetful端正duānzhèng · upright对称duìchèn · symmetrical额外éwài · extra反常fǎncháng · abnormal

FAQs

短促 (duǎncù) means “brief” or “short”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it duǎncù: duǎn with a 3rd tone, then cù with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 短促 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type duancu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 短促 from the suggestions. Typing duancu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
短促 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.