大多数 meaning in English

dàduōshù

(great) majority

HSK 2nounTraditional 大多數22 strokes

Meaning of 大多数

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dàduōshù

(great) majority

How to use 大多数

大多数 usually comes before a noun, often with 的, to say most people or things in a group. It is common in both speech and writing. Example: 大多数学生喜欢周末。(Dàduōshù xuésheng xǐhuan zhōumò.) Most students like weekends.

Break it into 大 (dà, big) + 多 (duō, many) + 数 (shù, number). A big, many number is most of the group, so 大多数 means the majority.

Common mistake: Learners often read 数 as shǔ (to count) here, but in 大多数 it is fourth tone shù (number). Some also put 大多数 after the verb, as in English "I like most". Chinese puts it before the noun, as in 我喜欢大多数的菜 (wǒ xǐhuan dàduōshù de cài).

大多数 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

大dà多duō数shù学xué生shēng步bù行xíng去qù学xué校xiào。

Most students walk to school.

科kē学xué家jiā处chǔ理lǐ大dà多duō数shù物wù理lǐ的de事shì物wù。

Scientists deal mainly with physical matters.

我wǒ猜cāi他tā们men大dà多duō数shù回huí家jiā了le。

I guess most of them went home.

大dà多duō数shù人rén其qí实shí认rèn不bù出chū自zì己jǐ的de手shǒu背bèi。

Most people can't actually recognize the back of their hand.

不bù幸xìng的de是shì，大dà多duō数shù年nián轻qīng人rén都dōu不bù常cháng说shuō方fāng言yán了le。

Sadly, most young people speak dialect only rarely.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

大 dà · big · 3 strokes

多 duō · many · 6 strokes

数 shǔ · to count · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 大多数.

多少	duōshao	number; amount; somewhat
大学	dàxué	university; college
大学生	dàxuéshēng	university student; college student
不大	bù dà	not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently
大家	dàjiā	everyone; influential family
多久	duōjiǔ	(of time) how long?; (not) a long time
大人	dàren	adult; grownup
差不多	chàbuduō	almost; nearly
许多	xǔduō	many; a lot of
好多	hǎoduō	many; quite a lot
多么	duōme	how (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc)
长大	zhǎngdà	to grow up

Questions about 大多数

What does 大多数 mean?

大多数 (dàduōshù) means "(great) majority" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 大多数?

大多数 is made of 3 characters: 大 (3 strokes), 多 (6 strokes), 数 (13 strokes). That is 22 strokes in total.

Is 大多数 an HSK word?

Yes. 大多数 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 大多数 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 大多数 is written 大多數.

What is the difference between 大多数 and 大部分?

Both mean most. 大多数 is used for things you can count, especially people. 大部分 (dà bùfen) works for countable things and for uncountable things, like 大部分时间 (most of the time).

What is the opposite of 大多数?

The opposite is 少数 (shǎoshù), meaning minority or a small number. For example, 少数人不同意 (shǎoshù rén bù tóngyì) means a few people disagree.