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院子 (yuàn zi) — courtyard; yard (an open outdoor area attached to a house)

Definition

院子 is the courtyard or yard attached to a house — an everyday, concrete place, not a public park. Compare 花园 (a planted garden) and 园 (parks or gardens, often public).

noun
courtyardyard (an open outdoor area attached to a house)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 院子。
    Zhè ge yuàn zi lǐ zhǒng le hěn duō huā.
    This yard has many flowers planted in it.
  • ，院子。
    Xià tiān de wǎn shàng, wǒ men xǐ huan zài yuàn zi lǐ chī fàn.
    On summer evenings, we like to eat in the courtyard.
  • 院子，。
    Zhè ge yuàn zi bú tài dà, dàn shì hěn gān jìng.
    This yard isn't very big, but it's very clean.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

院yuàncourtyard
子zǐfamiliarizing sense

The sense of courtyard combines with a familiarizing sense to mean yard.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fù
Sound part声符shēngfú
完
完wán院yuàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

院 is built from 阝, written in full as 阜, and 完, which gives the sound.

Open 院 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4Home & Housing5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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