车程 (chē chéng) — travel time (by vehicle)

Definition

Noun for the time it takes to travel somewhere by car or other vehicle. Refers to duration, not distance — for distance use 距离.

noun

travel time (by vehicle)

Examples

车程。
Cóng shàng hǎi dào nán jīng de chē chéng dà yuē sān gè xiǎo shí.
The travel time from Shanghai to Nanjing is about three hours.
车程，。
Zhè duàn chē chéng suī rán bù yuǎn, dàn lù shang hěn dǔ.
Although this drive isn't far, the roads are very congested.
车程。
Wǒ men kāi le wǔ gè xiǎo shí de chē chéng cái dào.
We drove for five hours before arriving.

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

程chéngdistance

The word combines 车, meaning vehicle, with 程, meaning distance, to denote the distance covered by a vehicle.

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.

禾呈程

Meaning part形符xíngfú

禾禾hégrain

Sound part声符shēngfú

呈

呈chéng程chéng

Same sound today

程 is made from 禾 (grain) and 呈 (pronounced chéng); the evidence gives measurements.

Open 程 →

Appears in