我們一步一步地踏進了冰冷的水裏。

We waded into the cold water inch by inch.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 我們 men we; us; ourselves; our
2 一步一步 step by step; gradually
=3 de
  1. -ly
  2. structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct
=3
  1. earth
  2. ground
  3. field
  4. place
  5. land

classifier:

4 踏進 jìn
  1. to set foot in
  2. to tread (in or on)
  3. to walk into
=5 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=5 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with or after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as or ) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of liǎo)
=5 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=5 liào unofficial variant of liào
6 冰冷 bīnglěng ice-cold
=7 de
  1. of; ~'s (possessive particle)
  2. (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
  3. (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
  4. (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 de "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 pǎotángrde "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 xīnde "new one")
  5. also pr. or di in poetry and songs
=7 a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士 shì)
=7 really and truly
=7 (bound form) bull's-eye; target
=8 Shuǐ surname Shui
=8 shuǐ
  1. water
  2. (after a name) ... River
  3. to swim (used mostly in 会水 huìshuǐ and 水性 shuǐxìng)
  4. (coll.) lacking in substance; shoddy
  5. (bound form) additional cost; extra income
  6. classifier for washings of a garment
9 variant of