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看台 (kàn tái) — grandstand; viewing platform; terrace

Definition

Seating structure for spectators at a sports venue. Unlike 平台 (a flat work surface) or 站台 (a train platform), 看台 is specifically the raised stands where an audience watches a game.

noun
grandstandviewing platformterrace
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，看台。
    Bǐ sài kāi shǐ qián, guān zhòng yǐ jīng zuò mǎn le kàn tái.
    Before the game started, the audience had already filled the grandstand.
  • 看台，。
    Zhè ge jiàn zhù dǐng céng yǒu yí gè lù tiān kàn tái, kě yǐ kàn dào hǎi jǐng.
    There is an open-air viewing platform on the top floor of this building, where you can see the sea view.
  • 看台。
    Tǐ yù chǎng xīn kuò jiàn de kàn tái néng róng nà wǔ wàn míng guān zhòng.
    The newly expanded grandstand of the stadium can accommodate fifty thousand spectators.

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.

看kànwatch
台táiplatform

看 means to watch, and 台 means a platform, so together they name a place for viewing events.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 看 puts 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), showing a hand placed above the eyes to gaze into the distance.

Open 看 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Sports & Athletics

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