TongTong
Sign in

太空站 (tài kōng zhàn) — space station

Definition

noun
space station
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 太空站。
    Kē xué jiā zài tài kōng zhàn lǐ zuò shí yàn.
    Scientists do experiments in the space station.
  • 太空站。
    Zhōng guó jì huà míng nián fā shè xīn de tài kōng zhàn.
    China plans to launch a new space station next year.
  • 太空站。
    Yǔ háng yuán zài tài kōng zhàn shàng shēng huó le liù gè yuè.
    The astronauts lived on the space station for six months.

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.

太空outer space
太tàiextreme空kōngsky
偏正Modifier + head
站zhànstation

太空 means outer space and 站 is a station, together naming a station in space.

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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
立立lì
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn站zhàn
Same sound today

站 has 立 on the left and 占 on the right; 立 relates to standing, and 占 gives the sound.

Open 站 →
Appears in
Space Exploration

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