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超车 (chāo chē) — to overtake (a vehicle), to pass (on the road)

Definition

超车 means to overtake or pass another vehicle on the road. Used almost exclusively for driving; for overtaking in other senses (e.g. competitors) use 超过 or 超越.

verb
to overtake (a vehicle)to pass (on the road)

Examples

  • 超车，。
    Zhè liàng chē xiǎng chāo chē, dàn shì qián miàn yǒu chē.
    This car wants to overtake, but there's a car ahead.
  • ，。
    Tā chāo le yí cì chē, jiù bèi jǐng chá lán xià le.
    He overtook once and was pulled over by the police.
  • 超车。
    Gāo sù gōng lù shàng bù néng suí biàn chāo chē.
    You can't just overtake on the highway.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

超chāoovertake
车chēcar

超 means to overtake and 车 means car, so the word describes overtaking another vehicle.

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
走走zǒurun
Sound part声符shēngfú
召
召zhào超chāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

超 pairs 走, meaning “run,” with 召, which gives the sound.

Open 超 →

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
Roads & Traffic

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