大会

• Pinyin: dà huì
• Hanzi breakdown: 大 = pictograph of a person with outstretched arms; 会 = simplified from 會, originally depicting a lid on a pot (coming together)

Meaning

Conference; assembly; congress. A large formal meeting or gathering.

Refers to large-scale formal meetings, often organised by governments, organisations, schools, or companies. Commonly seen in political contexts (人民代表大会), academic conferences, and school assemblies. More formal and larger in scale than 会议.

Examples

1. 学校下周要开运动会的动员大会。 The school is holding a mobilisation assembly for the sports meeting next week.
2. 公司年度大会上，总经理做了工作报告。 At the company's annual conference, the general manager gave a work report.
3. 这次国际学术大会吸引了来自各国的学者。 This international academic conference attracted scholars from various countries.

Usage Guide

Context: politics, business, education

Tone: formal

Do Say

• 明天的大会几点开始？(What time does tomorrow's assembly start?)
• 全体员工都要参加年度大会。(All employees must attend the annual conference.)

Don't Say

• 把几个人的小会议叫做大会 (Don't call a small meeting with a few people a 大会 — 大会 implies a large, formal assembly; use 会议 or 开会 for regular meetings)

Origin & History

大 (big/grand) + 会 (meeting/gathering) — a grand gathering, implying formal and large-scale assemblies.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal