距今 + 时间
(so long) before the present; … ago (written)
Structure
距今 ＋ 时间段 · 距今 ＋ 已有 ＋ 时间段 · 距今…的 ＋ 名词
What it means
Measures back from the present: '(so long) before now', '… ago'. The written form of 离现在, used in news and popular science, above all for times too remote for calendar years.
How it is built
距今 (+ 约／已有) + length of time: 赵州桥建于隋朝，距今已有一千四百多年 (The Zhaozhou Bridge dates from the Sui, over 1,400 years ago). Also 距今…的 + noun.
When to use it
In speech say 离现在. Keep it apart from 至今 (up to now: 至今仍在争论). 距今…年前 is often seen but says 'ago' twice; careful editors prefer 距今约1.25亿年 or 约1.25亿年前.
Watch out
It takes a length of time, not a date: ✗距今1996年 ✓距今近三十年 (or just 1996年).
Examples
这只小恐龙生活在距今约1.25亿年的白垩纪早期。
This little dinosaur lived in the Early Cretaceous, about 125 million years ago.
赵州桥建于隋朝，距今已有一千四百多年。
The Zhaozhou Bridge was built under the Sui and is now more than 1,400 years old.
甲骨文距今三千多年，是目前已知最早的成熟汉字。
The oracle-bone inscriptions, over three thousand years old, are the earliest mature Chinese characters known.
Learn this in Lesson 165 · HSK 7–9: 辽西的带毛恐龙 (The feathered dinosaurs of Liaoning)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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