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公车 (gōng chē) — bus (public transport vehicle); official car (government or organization vehicle)

Definition

公车 has two unrelated senses: a public bus (sense 1), or a vehicle owned by a government unit or company for official business (sense 2). Context — 坐 vs. 配/私用 — disambiguates them.

noun
bus (public transport vehicle)official car (government or organization vehicle)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 公车。
    Tā měi tiān zuò gōng chē shàng bān.
    He takes the bus to work every day.
  • 公车。
    Zhè tái gōng chē shì gōng sī zhuān mén wèi jīng lǐ pèi de.
    This official car is a company car assigned specifically for the manager.
  • 公车。
    Dān wèi yán jìn gōng chē sī yòng.
    The unit strictly prohibits using official cars for private purposes.

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.

公gōngpublic; official
车chēvehicle

'公' means public or official, and '车' means vehicle, giving a public or organization-provided vehicle.

Characters in this word

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

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 →
Appears in
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