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地铁 (dì tiě) — subway, metro

Definition

地铁 is the everyday word for the subway/metro system. 地下 alone just means 'underground' (a place or adjective) and is not used by itself for the train.

noun
subwaymetro
Measure word · 条

Examples

  • 地铁。
    Zuò dì tiě qù xué xiào hěn fāng biàn.
    Taking the subway to school is very convenient.
  • 地铁。
    dì tiě Bǐ gōng jiāo chē kuài duō le.
    The subway is much faster than the bus.
  • 。
    dì tiě Zhàn lǐ yǒu hěn duō rén.
    There are many people in the subway station.

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.

地dìunderground
铁tiěrailway

地 refers to underground, 铁 to railway; together they mean an underground railway.

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
也
也yě地dì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

地 is built from 土 (earth) and 也, which gives its sound.

Open 地 →

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 鐵; 铁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢧤
𢧤𢧤鐵tiě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鐵 pairs 金 (metal) with 𢧤 as a sound part; the simplified 铁 is a later shorthand.

Open 铁 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 2HSK 2.0 Level 3Trains & Transit5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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