TongTong
Sign in

赛车 (sài chē) — (noun) race car; (noun) auto race; cycle race; (verb) to race (a car or bicycle)

Definition

赛车 specifically means 'racing car' (the vehicle) or the act of racing cars/bikes — narrower than 竞赛 (any formal competition) and more sport-focused than 种族 (ethnicity). It is usually used for motorized racing, while 赛跑 is on foot.

noun
race carauto racecycle race
verb
to race (a car or bicycle)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 赛车。
    Tā mǎi le yí liàng xīn sài chē.
    He bought a new race car.
  • 赛车。
    Jīn nián de sài chē fēi cháng jīng cǎi.
    This year's auto race was very exciting.
  • 赛车。
    Tā cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan sài chē.
    He has liked racing since he was a child.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

赛sàirace or compete
车chēcar

赛 means to race or compete and 车 means car; together they mean to race cars or a car used for racing.

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 賽; 赛 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
塞
塞sāi賽sài
Same sound today

The traditional form 賽 uses 貝 (shell) for meaning and 塞 for sound. The simplified 赛 is a later shorthand.

Open 赛 →

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 7-9Sports & Athletics

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.