代 (dài): generation

Meanings

1 generation
2 era
3 to replace
4 to represent

Characters

代

dài

generation; era; to substitute

Contains 亻 (person) - generations are successions of people.

Examples

HSK 1

你能代我去开会吗？

Nǐ néng dài wǒ qù kāihuì ma?

Can you attend the meeting on my behalf?

HSK 2

他是90年代出生的。

Tā shì 90 niándài chūshēng de.

He was born in the 90s.

HSK 3

这是我们这一代人的责任。

Zhè shì wǒmen zhè yī dài rén de zérèn.

This is the responsibility of our generation.

Tips

usage

年代 means 'decade/era', e.g. 80年代 = the 80s. 代 alone as a measure word counts generations: 第三代 = third generation.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical form)

Person radical on the left makes the meaning concrete - generations are successions of people, and to substitute / represent is fundamentally one person standing in for another. The human axis is core to all 代 senses.

phonetic

弋 yì

tethered arrow (here phonetic)

弋 (a tethered arrow used in fowling) supplies the sound (yì to dài, an irregular dental/vocalic shift). Faintly semantic: a tethered arrow flies and is pulled back, a fitting metaphor for one generation succeeding another or one person substituting for another.