大陆
da lu
The English word "continent" is translated into Chinese as 大陆 (da lu).
大陆 is used to refer to the main landmasses on the Earth's surface. In many political and geographical contexts, it is also the standard term used to refer to "Mainland China".
Meaning: each of main land-masses on earth's surface (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 大陆 is composed of 大 (big) and 陆 (land or continent).
Which one should you use?
While 大陆 can mean "continent" in a general geographical sense, when naming specific continents, Chinese often uses the suffix 洲 instead of 大陆. For example, Africa is 非洲 and Asia is 亚洲.
How do you pronounce it?
da lu
Did you know?
- The character 陆 in 大陆 originally carried the meaning of 'six' in ancient Chinese, though its modern meaning is 'land'.
- The word 大陆 is often used in Chinese literature to evoke a sense of vastness or an epic scale, moving beyond a simple geographical label to describe a 'vast expanse'.
- The character 洲 used in names like 非洲 (Africa) depicts a body of land surrounded by water, which is a visual representation of an island or continent.
Examples in context
- 哥伦布航行至遥远的西方，去寻找一个新大陆。Columbus sailed farther west to look for a new continent.This sentence shows how to use 大陆 when referring to a new continent.Tatoeba #12569611 by lnvq, translation #54859 by CM
- 非洲是一块非常大的大陆。Africa is a very large continent.This sentence demonstrates using 大陆 to describe the size of Africa.Tatoeba #2882569 by evkon, translation #2882570 by evkon
- 亚洲是最大的大陆。Asia is the largest continent.
- 澳大利亚是一个美丽的大陆。Australia is a beautiful continent.
- 南极洲是最小的大陆。Antarctica is the smallest continent.
- 亚洲是一块非常大的大陆。Yàzhōu shì yī kuài fēicháng dà de dàlù.Asia is a very large continent.
Example conversation
Yuting and Zhiqiang are discussing geography.
- 雨婷 Yuting你觉得哪个大陆最有趣？Nǐ juéde nǎge dàlù zuì yǒuqù?Which continent do you think is the most interesting?
- 志强 Zhiqiang我觉得南美大陆非常有魅力。Wǒ juéde Nánměi dàlù fēicháng yǒu mèilì.I think the South American continent is very charming.
- 雨婷 Yuting那里确实有很多独特的动物。Nàlǐ quèshí yǒu hěnduō dútè de dòngwù.There are indeed many unique animals there.
- 志强 Zhiqiang没错，我想去那里旅行。Méicuò, wǒ xiǎng qù nàlǐ lǚxíng.That's right, I want to travel there.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
