代 dài era
era; generation; to be a substitute for; to act on behalf of
How it came to be
A person and a marked stake, side by side. The sense is one thing standing in for another, a substitute, and a generation is what stands in for the one before it.
How it is used
- Noun for "era, generation": 时代 (shídài, era), 年代 (niándài, decade), 古代/现代 (gǔdài/xiàndài, ancient/modern times).
- Also a bound verb "to substitute for, act on behalf of": 代 + verb means "do X for someone", e.g. 代买 (dàimǎi, buy something on someone's behalf).
- 代表 (dàibiǎo) extends this to "represent", both as a verb and as the noun "representative".
Characters built with 代
Words with 代
- 一代yídàigenerationHSK 5
- 代替dàitìto replaceHSK 5
- 代表dàibiǎorepresentativeHSK 5
- 古代gǔdàiancient timesHSK 5
- 年代niándàia decade of a century (e.g. the Sixties)HSK 5
- 时代shídàieraHSK 5
- 现代xiàndàimodern timesHSK 5
- 现代化xiàndàihuàmodernizationHSK 5
- 近代jìndàithe not-very-distant pastHSK 5
- 代价dàijiàpriceHSK 6
- 代理dàilǐto act on behalf ofHSK 6
- 取代qǔdàito replaceHSK 6
- 后代hòudàidescendantHSK 6
- 当代dāngdàithe present ageHSK 6
- 朝代cháodàidynastyHSK 6
- 世代shìdàifor many generationsHSK 8
- 交代jiāodàito transfer (duties to somebody else)HSK 8
- 代号dàihàocode nameHSK 8
- 代理人dàilǐrénagentHSK 8
- 代言dàiyánto be a spokespersonHSK 8
- 划时代huàshídàiepoch-markingHSK 8
- 历代lìdàisuccessive generationsHSK 8
- 取而代之qǔ’érdàizhīto replaceHSK 8
- 新陈代谢xīnchén-dàixièmetabolism (biology)HSK 8