单一

dān yī

single; unitary; sole

HSK Level 5

Example Sentences

我喜欢单一的颜色,比如黑色和白色。

wǒ xǐhuān dānyī de yánsè, bǐrú hēisè hé báisè.

I like simple colors, such as black and white.

这个城市的交通非常单一,只有公交车和出租车。

zhège chéngshì de jiāotōng fēicháng dānyī, zhǐyǒu gōngjiāochē hé chūzūchē.

The transportation in this city is very simple, there are only buses and taxis.

他的性格非常单一,总是很开朗。

tā de xìnggé fēicháng dānyī, zǒngshì hěn kāilǎng.

His personality is very simple, he is always very cheerful.

Synonyms

单调 (dān diào)

monotonous

简单 (jiǎn dān)

simple

Antonyms

复杂 (fù zá)

complex

多样 (dūo yàng)

diverse

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Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 单 (dān) means "single" or "one". It is composed of the radical 亻(rén), which represents a person, and the phonetic component 丹 (dān), which means "red". The character 一 (yī) means "one" and is composed of the radical 丨(gǔn), which represents a line, and the phonetic component 乙 (yǐ), which is a variant of the character 二 (èr), which means "two". The combination of 单 and 一 forms the word 单一 (dānyī), which means "single" or "unique".