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平房 (píng fáng) — bungalow; single-story house

Definition

A 平房 is a single-story house, in contrast to 楼房 (a multi-story apartment building). The word emphasizes the single-level structure rather than architectural style.

noun
bungalowsingle-story house
Measure word · 间

Examples

  • 平房，。
    Zhè dòng píng fáng suī rán bú dà, dàn yuàn zi hěn kuān chang.
    This bungalow is not big, but the yard is very spacious.
  • 平房，。
    Zhù píng fáng bǐ zhù lóu fáng gèng fāng biàn, bú yòng pá lóu tī.
    Living in a single-story house is more convenient than living in an apartment building — no stairs to climb.
  • 平房。
    Zhè piàn lǎo chéng qū bǎo liú le xǔ duō mín guó shí qī de píng fáng.
    This old city area preserves many bungalows from the Republic of China period.

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.

平píngflat
房fánghouse

平 conveys flat or level, and 房 means house; the combined sense is a single-story house.

Characters in this word

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

The origin is uncertain. One explanation combines 八 (division) and 亏 (exhaled air) to show smooth speech.

Open 平 →

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
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Home & Housing

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