(céng) - once, formerly; have (done) before in Mandarin
céngTraditional: 曾
Translation
once, formerly; have (done) before
Word origin
曾 originally depicted a steamer or layered cooking vessel, the ancestor of 甑 'steamer'. It was borrowed to write the adverb meaning 'once, formerly' and the sense of layered or added relationships.
- Origin
- pictograph
- Root
- a layered steaming vessel
Stroke order
曾
Examples
。
He was once my teacher.
。
He was once my teacher.
。
No one has ever seen this kind of bird.
。
I have travelled to Tibet before.
。
He once served as company manager.
曾 (céng) is a literary adverb meaning once or formerly, indicating a past experience. In classical and formal Mandarin 曾 alone marks past experience, parallel to the 过 (guò) experiential aspect marker in modern speech. In everyday Mandarin it typically appears in the compound 曾经 (céng jīng, once upon a time / used to), which is more colloquially natural. The negative 未曾 (wèi céng) means have never, appearing mostly in formal or literary contexts.
Where this fits
Appears in 1 word
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 曾.
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曾: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "曾" (once, formerly; have (done) before): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 12.