Chinese edit

 
general; popular; everywhere
general; popular; everywhere; universal
 
go through; know well; to connect
go through; know well; to connect; to communicate; open
trad. (普通)
simp. #(普通)

Pronunciation edit


Adjective edit

普通

  1. ordinary; plain; average; nothing special; general
    普通員工普通员工  ―  pǔtōng yuángōng  ―  ordinary employee; general staff
    真的只是普通朋友 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Wǒ gēn tā zhēnde zhǐshì pǔtōng péngyǒu. [Pinyin]
    She and I are really just friends.
    明明那麼普通那麼自信 [MSC, trad.]
    明明那么普通那么自信 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā míngmíng nàme pǔtōng què yòu nàme zìxìn. [Pinyin]
    He's clearly so ordinary, and yet so confident.
  2. common; universal; widespread

Synonyms edit

  • (ordinary):
  • (common):

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

Sino-Xenic (普通):

Further reading edit

Japanese edit

Kanji in this term

Grade: S
つう
Grade: 2
goon

Etymology edit

/putuː//fut͡suː/

From Middle Chinese compound 普通 (pʰuoX thuwng, literally ordinary + through). Compare modern Hakka phû-thûng, Cantonese pou2 tung1, Mandarin pǔtōng.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

()(つう) (futsū-na (adnominal ()(つう) (futsū na), adverbial ()(つう) (futsū ni))

  1. common, ordinary
  2. (informal, in the adverbial form 普通に) Used when straightforwardly describing one's opinion.
    普通(ふつう)美味(おい)しい
    futsū ni oishī
    just delicious
    普通(ふつう)きもい
    futsū ni kimoi
    plain gross

Usage notes edit

The form 普通 is replacing 普通な in modern Japanese. See the usage notes below.

Inflection edit

Noun edit

()(つう) (futsū

  1. the common, the ordinary, nothing special

Usage notes edit

As a noun, it is usually used with the possessive particle (​no), which makes it function as an adjective.

普通 is widely used for a variety of purposes. For example, to display modesty, one can use it respond to flattery (“oh, I’m nothing special”). Similarly, if a restaurant is okay, but not particularly noteworthy, it can be described as 普通.

普通 is also used in various conventional senses – a 普通列車 is a local train (as opposed to the 特急列車 or “special express train”), while an average student is a 普通の学生 (futsū no gakusei).

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean edit

Hanja in this term

Noun edit

普通 (botong) (hangeul 보통)

  1. Hanja form? of 보통 (normality; usually).

Vietnamese edit

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Adjective edit

普通

  1. chữ Hán form of phổ thông (common, ordinary).