Chinese word

千万

Pronunciation

Pinyinqiān wàn

Meaning

  • adverbbe sure to

Example

千万要小心开车。qiān wàn yào xiǎo xīn kāi chē

Be sure to drive carefully.

Illustration for 千万 (be sure to)

More examples

开会前，千万别忘了准备好报告。kāi huì qián qiān wàn bié wàng le zhǔn bèi hǎo bào gào

Before the meeting, be sure not to forget to prepare the report.

Core concept

Strong emphasis placed before an action, marking it as essential or warning that it must not be missed.

Common phrases

  • 千万别忘了qiān wàn bié wàng le

    be sure not to forget

  • 千万记住qiān wàn jì zhù

    be sure to remember

  • 千万不要迟到qiān wàn bú yào chí dào

    be sure not to be late

Similar words

一定yí dìng: Says that something is certain to happen or that someone will definitely do something.
必须bì xū: States that an action must be done because it is necessary.

Definition in Chinese

作为副词用于强调务必或切勿，突出行为的必要性或潜在危险，常与否定别、不要或肯定要连用，放在动词前。zuò wéi fù cí yòng yú qiáng diào wù bì huò qiè wù tū chū xíng wèi de bì yào xìng huò qián zài wēi xiǎn cháng yǔ fǒu dìng bié bú yào huò kěn dìng yào lián yòng fàng zài dòng cí qián

Word origin

The number phrase 千万 (qiānwàn, "ten million") developed an emphatic adverbial use, giving a following action unusually strong force.

Usage tips

  • The written form also means ten million, so sentence position helps: before a verb it adds urgent force, while a standalone number belongs to counting.

Other meanings

  • certainlyadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word