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客车 (kè chē) — (noun) bus, coach (long-distance bus); (noun) passenger train (as opposed to freight train)

Definition

客车 means a long-distance bus or coach — bigger and longer-distance than a city 公交车. In Taiwan/older usage it also refers to a passenger train (vs. 货车, freight).

noun
buscoach (long-distance bus)passenger train (as opposed to freight train)
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 客车圳。
    Měi tiān yǒu shí tàng kè chē cóng guǎng zhōu kāi wǎng shēn zhèn.
    There are ten passenger trains running from Guangzhou to Shenzhen every day.
  • 客车，。
    Wǒ men zuò cháng tú kè chē qù xī zàng, lù shang fēng jǐng hěn měi.
    We took a long-distance bus to Tibet, and the scenery along the way was beautiful.
  • 客车。
    Gāo sù gōng lù shàng de kè chē hé huò chē dōu hěn duō.
    There are many buses and trucks on the highway.

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.

客kèpassenger
车chēvehicle

The passenger sense of 客 narrows the vehicle sense of 车 to mean a bus or coach.

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

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 6Vehicles

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