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单车 (dān chē) — bicycle (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other regions; equivalent to 自行车 in Mainland China)

Definition

单车 means 'bicycle' — the everyday term in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and southern regions. In Mainland China the standard word is 自行车, which 单车 sounds like to mainland ears.

noun
bicycle (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other regions; equivalent to 自行车 in Mainland China)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • ，单车。
    Zài tái wān, hěn duō rén qí dān chē shàng bān.
    In Taiwan, many people ride a bicycle to work.
  • 单车。
    Zhè liàng dān chē shì wǒ qù nián mǎi de.
    This bicycle was what I bought last year.
  • 单车。
    Tā měi tiān qí dān chē qù xué xiào.
    He rides a bicycle to school every day.

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.

单dānsingle
车chēvehicle

单 means single, and 车 means vehicle, together naming a bicycle.

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 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →

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
Vehicles

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