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救火车 (jiù huǒ chē) — fire engine; fire truck

Definition

noun
fire enginefire truck
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 救火车。
    Jiē tóu tíng zhe yí liàng hóng sè de jiù huǒ chē.
    A red fire engine is parked on the street.
  • 救火车，。
    Tā tīng dào jiù huǒ chē de shēng yīn, zhī dào fù jìn fā shēng le huǒ zāi.
    He heard the fire engine siren and knew there was a fire nearby.
  • 救火车。
    Hái zi men duì jiù huǒ chē chōng mǎn le hào qí.
    The children are full of curiosity about fire engines.

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.

救火extinguish fire
救jiùsave火huǒfire
动宾Verb + object
车chēvehicle

In 救火车, 救火 names what the 车 is for: a vehicle that extinguishes fire.

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
求
求qiú救jiù
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 救, 求 gives the sound, and 攴 is the action part.

Open 救 →

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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
Safety & DangerVehicles

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