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操场 (cāo chǎng) — sports field, playground (at a school or other facility)

Definition

General-purpose sports field or playground at a school — for PE, ball games, and play. Unlike 球场, it isn't built for one specific sport, and unlike 草坪, the ground is not necessarily grass.

noun
sports fieldplayground (at a school or other facility)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 操场。
    Wǒ men zài cāo chǎng shàng dǎ lán qiú.
    We play basketball on the sports field.
  • 操场。
    Xué xiào yǒu yí gè hěn dà de cāo chǎng.
    The school has a very big playground.
  • 操场。
    Hái zi men zài cāo chǎng lǐ zuò yóu xì.
    The children are playing games on the playground.

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.

操cāoexercise
场chǎngplace

操 refers to exercises or drills and 场 is a place, so it means a place for physical activities.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
喿
喿zào操cāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 手 shows a hand, indicating an action done by hand. The right part 喿 gives the sound.

Open 操 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 5School & Education

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