不 bù
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
不知不觉
bùzhībùjué
without realising it; unconsciously
Characters in this word
知 zhī
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 矢 — arrow, dart
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
觉 jué
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 见 — to see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- Made of
- ⺍ sprouts 冖 cover 见 to see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 他看着电视，不知不觉睡着了。 Tā kàn zhe diànshì, bùzhībùjué shuìzháo le. He was watching TV and fell asleep without realising it.
- 聊着聊着，天不知不觉就黑了。 Liáo zhe liáo zhe, tiān bùzhībùjué jiù hēi le. As we chatted, it got dark without our noticing.
- 不知不觉，我已经在这座城市住了十年。 Bùzhībùjué, wǒ yǐjīng zài zhè zuò chéngshì zhù le shí nián. Before I knew it, I had already lived in this city for ten years.