转车 (zhuàn chē) — to change trains or buses; to transfer (to another vehicle)

Definition

A separable verb meaning to switch vehicles mid-journey: get off one train or bus and board another. Common pattern: 在 + place + 转车.

verb
to change trains or busesto transfer (to another vehicle)

Examples

  • 转车。
    Wǒ xū yào zài wǔ hàn zhuàn chē.
    I need to change trains in Wuhan.
  • 。
    Tā zhè cì lǚ xíng zhuǎn le yí cì chē.
    He transferred once on this trip.
  • 转车，。
    Zuò gāo tiě bú yòng zhuàn chē, zhí dá běi jīng.
    Taking the high-speed rail, you don't need to change trains — it goes directly to Beijing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

转zhuǎnchange
车chēvehicle

转 (change) and 车 (vehicle) together mean changing from one train or bus to another.

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 轉; 转 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
專
專zhuān轉zhuǎn
Same sound today

The traditional form 轉 combines 車, a carriage, with 專 as a sound part; the simplified 转 is a later shorthand.

Open 转 →

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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