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私家车 (sī jiā chē) — private car

Definition

A privately-owned passenger car, as opposed to a taxi, bus, or company vehicle. Contrast with 车主, which refers to the owner (a person), not the car itself.

noun
private car
Measure word · 辆

Examples

  • 私家车。
    Tā mǎi le yí liàng sī jiā chē.
    He bought a private car.
  • 私家车？
    Nǐ měi tiān kāi sī jiā chē shàng bān ma?
    Do you drive a private car to work every day?
  • 私家车。
    Chéng shì lǐ sī jiā chē yuè lái yuè duō.
    There are more and more private cars in the city.

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.

私家private
私sīprivate家jiāhousehold
偏正Modifier + head
车chēcar

私家 means one's own household and 车 means car, naming a car owned by a private household.

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
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

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
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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 7-9Vehicles

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