大半天

dàbàntiān

noun #35,489

Meanings

1 the better part of a day
2 a long while
3 ages

Characters

Examples

我等了大半天他才来。

Wǒ děng le dàbàntiān tā cái lái.

I waited for ages before he finally showed up.

这件事花了我大半天的时间。

Zhè jiàn shì huā le wǒ dàbàntiān de shíjiān.

This took me the better part of a day.

Tips

usage

Colloquial. 大 (big) + 半天 (half a day) = 'a big half-day' = 'most of a day, longer than expected'. Often hyperbolic in spoken Chinese — 等了大半天 may really mean just 'I waited a long time', not literally 6 hours. Compare 半天 (half a day / a long time) and 一整天 (a whole day).

Stroke Order

大 dà

半 bàn

天 tiān