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货车 (huò chē) — freight vehicle; truck; van

Definition

货车 is a truck or van used to carry goods. Contrast with 客车 (passenger bus/train) and 汽车 (general car). 卡车 is a close colloquial synonym.

noun
freight vehicletruckvan
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 货车。
    Sī jī bǎ huò chē kāi dào le gōng chǎng mén kǒu.
    The driver drove the truck to the factory gate.
  • 货车。
    Zhè liàng huò chē zhuāng mǎn le huò wù.
    This truck is loaded with goods.
  • 货车。
    Mǎ lù shang yǒu hěn duō huò chē zài sòng dōng xī.
    There are many trucks delivering things on the road.

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.

货huògoods
车chēvehicle

货 names goods, and 车 names a vehicle, so together they mean a goods vehicle.

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 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell, money
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà貨huò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Open 货 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Vehicles5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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