房子 (fáng zi) — house; building; apartment (a residential unit)

Definition

Common word for a house or apartment unit. 房子 is a whole dwelling (rent or live in); 房间 is a single room inside it. 楼 is the whole building.

noun

housebuildingapartment (a residential unit)

Measure word · 栋, 幢, 座, 套, 间

Easily confused

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

子zǐnominal suffix

房 names a dwelling, and 子 completes the ordinary word for a house, apartment, or room.

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

戶戶hùdoor

Sound part声符shēngfú

方

Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Appears in