加油站 (jiā yóu zhàn) — gas station; petrol station

Definition

A 加油站 (jiāyóuzhàn) is a gas/petrol station — a place you go to fill up. The 站 means 'station'; 汽油 is the gasoline itself, not the place.

noun

gas stationpetrol station

Measure word · 个

Examples

加油站。
Wǒ qù jiā yóu zhàn jiā yóu.
I'm going to the gas station to refuel.
加油站。
Qián miàn yǒu yí gè jiā yóu zhàn.
There is a gas station ahead.
加油站。
Zhè ge jiā yóu zhàn de yóu hěn pián yi.
The gas at this station is very cheap.

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.

加油add oil

加jiāadd油yóuoil

动宾Verb + object

站zhànstation

加油 means add oil, and 站 is a station; together they name a place for refueling.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

力口加

力力lìstrength
口口kǒumouth

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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

氵由油

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

由

由yóu油yóu

Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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