TongTong
Sign in

车牌 (chē pái) — license plate

Definition

noun
license plate
Measure word · 块

Examples

  • 车牌。
    Wǒ de chē xū yào huàn yí gè xīn chē pái.
    My car needs a new license plate.
  • 车牌？
    Nǐ néng bāng wǒ jì yí xià zhè ge chē pái de hào mǎ ma?
    Can you help me write down the number of this license plate?
  • 车牌。
    Tā de chē pái bèi rén tōu le.
    His license plate was stolen by someone.

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.

车chēvehicle
牌páiplate

车 names a vehicle, and 牌 is the identifying plate.

Characters in this word

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
片片piàn
Sound part声符shēngfú
卑
卑bēi牌pái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

牌 puts 片, a flat piece, beside 卑, which gives the sound.

Open 牌 →
Appears in
Vehicles

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