脚趾
jiǎozhǐ
In Chinese, 'toes' is expressed as 脚趾 (jiǎozhǐ).
The term refers to the five digits at the end of each foot.
What does it mean word for word?
The word 脚趾 is composed of 脚 (foot) and 趾 (toe or digit).
Which one should you use?
You can use the more colloquial version 脚趾头 in everyday spoken Chinese. For a formal way to refer specifically to the 'toe tips', use 足尖.
How does it change in a sentence?
脚趾 is a noun that does not change its form to indicate plurality. The context determines if you are talking about one toe or multiple toes.
How do you pronounce it?
jiǎozhǐ
Did you know?
- In some Chinese-speaking regions, specifically in certain folk traditions, the shape or number of a person's toes can be used in physiognomy to predict their character or fortune.
- Traditional Chinese medicine refers to specific points on the 脚趾 as conduits for 'qi', and massaging these areas is believed to affect distant organs in the body.
- When using the colloquial version 脚趾头, the addition of 头 (head) follows a common linguistic pattern in Chinese where suffixes are added to body parts to make them sound more natural in spoken language.
Examples in context
- 我可以轻而易举地碰到我的脚趾。I can easily touch my toes.This sentence is useful for demonstrating the use of 脚趾.Tatoeba #8511060 by maxine, translation #33492 by CK
- 最初的旗袍遮住了女性身体的大部分，只露出头部、手和脚趾头，为的是无论穿戴者的年龄如何,都能隐藏她的身材。The original qipao covered most of a woman's body, revealing only the head, the hands and the tips of the toes, in order to conceal the figure of the wearer regardless of her age.This sentence illustrates how 脚趾 can be used when describing body parts.Tatoeba #727998 by GlossaMatik, translation #727993 by eastasiastudent
- 他的脚趾很凉。Tā de jiǎozhǐ hěn liáng.His toes are very cold.
Example conversation
At a swimming pool, Yu Ting notices Wei is shivering.
- 雨婷 Yuting伟，你的脚趾看起来有点发紫。Wěi, nǐ de jiǎozhǐ kàn qǐlái yǒudiǎn fā zǐ.Wei, your toes look a bit purple.
- 伟 Wei因为水太冷了，我的脚趾都冻僵了。Yīnwèi shuǐ tài lěng le, wǒ de jiǎozhǐ dōu dòng jiāng le.Because the water is too cold, my toes are frozen stiff.
- 雨婷 Yuting那你快上岸吧。Nà nǐ kuài shàng àn ba.Then you should get out of the water quickly.
- 伟 Wei好，我这就去。Hǎo, wǒ zhè jiù qù.Okay, I'm going now.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
