About
The character "几" began as a pictograph for a small table or stool, with its structure abstractly capturing the essence of a piece of furniture through a horizontal line representing the surface and supporting vertical lines. Over centuries, the written form became more stylized into its current minimal strokes, yet it retained its core meaning related to household items. While its primary definition has stayed consistent, the character has also been utilized in certain linguistic contexts to express ideas like "nearly" or "almost", particularly when functioning as a component in words borrowed from the phonetic and semantic complexities of the traditional character "幾". This dual usage reflects a historical layering of meanings without altering the fundamental pictographic origin of "几".
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我有几个苹果。
你现在几岁了？
这本书几块钱？
他几天没来上课了。
你能等我几分钟吗？
我们还需要准备几样东西。
不管发生几件事，都要冷静。
经过几次失败后，他终于成功了。