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东西

thing

Character Composition

Characters

Pinyin

dong1xi5 • dōngxi

Alternative Pinyin

dong1xi1 • dōngxī

Meaning

Primary

thing

Alternatives

things

Mnemonic

Perusing a museum, you come across an artifact labeled 东西 Thing. It keeps on saying "东 east and 西 west" repeatedly. Except the word 西 west is always nearly [5] silent. "EAST ~west~" it says. What a strange 东西 thing.

Usage

那 是 什么 东西？

What is that thing?

东西 贵 了。

Things have gotten more expensive.

我 想 买 一些 东西。

I want to buy some things.