Structures of Chinese Characters: the Compound Characters (Part Two)
In this lesson, we will give some examples to help you understand the compound characters of top-bottom structure. Please note that in some of the characters, not all strokes are shown one by one, because these have been shown in our former lessons.
2. Top-Bottom Structure (上下结构
)
On the basis of the sizes of top and bottom parts, it can be subdivided into three sub-strcutures:
1). a shorter top part and a longer bottom part, like the picture shows:
For example: "写" and "字".
写 (xiě, write)
字 (zì, character)
2). the top and the bottom parts are of equal size, like this picture shows:
For example: "名" and "是".
名 (míng, name)
是 (shì, be)
3). a longer top part and a shorter bottom part, like the picture shows:
For example: "写" and "字". 
For example: "名" and "是". 
For example: "息" and "点". 
