TongTong
Sign in

卡车 (kǎ chē) — truck

Definition

卡车 is the everyday word for 'truck' (a road vehicle that carries heavy goods). 货车 is a more technical/formal label for the same kind of freight vehicle.

noun
truck
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 卡车。
    Tā měi tiān kāi kǎ chē sòng huò.
    He delivers goods by truck every day.
  • 卡车，。
    Zhè liàng kǎ chē tài zhòng le, shàng pō hěn màn.
    This truck is too heavy, it goes up slopes slowly.
  • 卡车。
    Gōng sī mǎi le sān liàng xīn kǎ chē.
    The company bought three new trucks.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

卡 is made from 上 (up) and 下 (down), with their horizontal lines fused, showing something squeezed between above and below.

Open 卡 →

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 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 5Vehicles2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.