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核电站 (hé diàn zhàn) — nuclear power plant

Definition

A 'nuclear power plant' is the physical facility that generates electricity from nuclear reactions. Contrast with 核能, which is the energy source itself, not the plant.

noun
nuclear power plant
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 核电站。
    Zhè zuò hé diàn zhàn jiàn yú sān shí nián qián.
    This nuclear power plant was built thirty years ago.
  • 核电站。
    hé diàn zhàn De ān quán biāo zhǔn fēi cháng yán gé.
    The safety standards of nuclear power plants are very strict.
  • 核电站。
    Zhè lǐ zhèng zài jiàn shè yí zuò xīn hé diàn zhàn.
    A new nuclear power plant is being built here.

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.

核hénuclear
电站power station
电diànelectricity站zhànstation
偏正Modifier + head

Nuclear (核) specifies power station (电站), giving a plant that generates power from nuclear energy.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
亥
亥hài核hé
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

核 pairs 木, a tree, with 亥 to give its sound; it originally named a kind of tree, and its later meanings are borrowed.

Open 核 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 電; 电 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
申
申shēn電diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 電, 雨 (rain) sits with 申, read shēn and meaning lightning.

Open 电 →

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
立立lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn站zhàn
Same sound today

站 has 立 on the left and 占 on the right; 立 relates to standing, and 占 gives the sound.

Open 站 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Energy & Power

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