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出租车 (chū zū chē) — taxi

Definition

noun
taxi
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 出租车。
    Wǒ zuò chū zū chē qù chāo shì.
    I take a taxi to the supermarket.
  • 出租车。
    chū zū chē Zài zhè lǐ.
    The taxi is here.
  • 出租车。
    Tā kāi chū zū chē.
    He drives a taxi.

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.

出租rent out
出chūout租zūrent
偏正Modifier + head
车chēvehicle

出租 means to rent out, and 车 is a vehicle; together it names a car that can be rented out.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě租zū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

租 uses 禾 (grain) because land rent was paid in grain, and 且 shows the pronunciation.

Open 租 →

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 1HSK 2.0 Level 1Vehicles2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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