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片子 (piān zi) — (colloquial) movie, film; (medical) X-ray image; film (reel or phonograph record)

Definition

片子 is a casual, spoken word for 'movie' — shorter and more colloquial than 电影 or 影片 (both neutral/standard). It also refers to an X-ray image or an old-style phonograph record.

noun
(colloquial) moviefilm(medical) X-ray imagefilm (reel or phonograph record)
Measure word · 部

Examples

  • 片子？
    Nǐ zuì jìn kàn guò shén me hǎo kàn de piān zi ma?
    Have you seen any good movies recently?
  • 片子，。
    Yī shēng ràng wǒ qù pāi gè piān zi, kàn kàn gǔ tou yǒu méi yǒu wèn tí.
    The doctor told me to get an X-ray to see if there's a problem with the bone.
  • 片子，。
    Zhè zhāng lǎo piān zi hái néng fàng yīn yuè, zhēn shì xī yǒu.
    This old record can still play music — it's really rare.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

片piànfilm
子zǐsuffix

片子 builds on '片' with a colloquial '子' to mean a film or X-ray image.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 片 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Film & Theater5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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