Chinese word

大体

Pronunciation

Pinyindà tǐ

Meaning

  • adverbabout

Example

我们大体七点到。wǒ men dà tǐ qī diǎn dào

We arrive at about seven.

Illustration for 大体 (about)

More examples

今天大体是这个安排，可以开始准备了。jīn tiān dà tǐ shì zhè ge ān pái ké yǐ kāi shǐ zhǔn bèi le

Today, the plan is roughly this, and we can start preparing.

Core concept

An overall outline that keeps the main shape while leaving exact details open.

Common phrases

  • 大体而言dà tǐ ér yán

    broadly speaking

  • 大体是dà tǐ shì

    is generally the case

Similar words

大约dà yuē: Marks a quantity or time as nearly a stated value, not an exact one.
大概dà gài: Presents an approximate number, time, or situation without giving the details.
基本上jī běn shàng: Covers the main points or overall framework of a situation.
差不多chà bu duō: Shows that the difference between amounts or states is very small.

Definition in Chinese

表示事物的主要情况或概略，也用于对时间、数量或情形的近似估计，既可作名词指要点，亦可作副词表示大致。biǎo shì shì wù de zhǔ yào qíng kuàng huò gài lüè yě yòng yú duì shí jiān shù liàng huò qíng xíng de jìn sì gū jì jì kě zuò míng cí zhǐ yào diǎn yì kě zuò fù cí biǎo shì dà zhì

Word origin

The compound 大 (dà, "great") + 体 (tǐ, "whole") evokes a large whole viewed without close detail, linking the noun sense of an outline to the adverbial sense of approximation.

Usage tips

  • In quick plans, it usually comes before a time or number, marking an estimate rather than a fixed appointment or exact count.

Other meanings

  • generallyadverb
  • roughlyadverb

Opposites

  • 准确地zhǔn què dìpreciselyadverb

Word lists with this word