TongTong
Sign in

停车位 (tíng chē wèi) — parking space; parking spot

Definition

noun
parking spaceparking spot
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 停车位。
    Zhè lǐ méi yǒu tíng chē wèi.
    There is no parking space here.
  • 停车位。
    Zhè ge tíng chē wèi xū yào fù fèi.
    This parking spot requires payment.
  • 停车位。
    Xiǎo qū de dì xià tíng chē wèi hěn chōng zú.
    The underground parking spaces in the residential area are plentiful.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

停车stop a car
停tíngstop车chēcar
动宾Verb + object
位wèispace; place

停车 (stop a car) with 位 (space) gives a parking space.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
亭
亭tíng停tíng
Same sound today

The left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 亭 gives the sound tíng; this forms 停.

Open 停 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

Open 位 →
Appears in
Roads & Traffic

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.