该车 (gāi chē) — (formal) the said vehicle; that vehicle (in legal/official contexts)

Definition

该车 is a formal demonstrative pronoun used in legal, official, or news writing to mean 'the said vehicle' / 'that vehicle in question.' It is far more formal than everyday 这辆 and typically refers back to a vehicle already mentioned.

pronoun
(formal) the said vehiclethat vehicle (in legal/official contexts)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • ，该车。
    Gēn jù jǐng fāng bào gào, gāi chē yú líng chén liǎng diǎn chū xiàn zài shì gù xiàn chǎng.
    According to the police report, the said vehicle appeared at the accident scene at 2 a.m.
  • 该车。
    gāi chē De zhǔ rén zài shì fā hòu cì rì dào pài chū suǒ dēng jì.
    The owner of the said vehicle went to the police station to register the day after the incident.
  • ，该车。
    Fǎ yuàn pàn jué zhǐ chū, gāi chē bì xū guī huán gěi yuán chē zhǔ.
    The court ruling states that the said vehicle must be returned to the original owner.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 該; 该 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
亥
亥hài該gāi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 該 pairs 言 (speech) with 亥 as a sound part; the simplified 该 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 该 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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