Learn Chinese Weekly

In today’s common parlance, 车 (cart, car or machine with wheels) is pronounced as “chē”. On the Chinese chessboard, it has retained its classical meaning and pronunciation of a war chariot, 车 (jū). To make a distinction, the chariot on one side of the board assumes the name 车 (jū) printed in black or blue, while that on the opposing side assumes the name 俥 (jū vehicle or rickshaw) printed in red.

As we wait for summer fun to kick in, why not take a look at a few Chinese words involving cars and a few characters that take on the cart radical?

Gone are the days in which we depended on 马车 (mǎchē horse carriage) or 牛车 (niú chē ox cart) for transportation. The modern automobiles are called 车 (chē), 车子 (chēzi), 汽车 (qìchē ), 轿车 (jiàochē sedan) or 车辆 (chēliàng). A car’s trunk is called 汽车后备箱 (qìchē hòubèi xiāng). 修车 (xiū chē ) means to repair a car. The parts of a car that often need to be fixed are: 车身 (chēshēn), 车前灯 (chē qián dēng), 车轮 (chēlún) and 轮胎 (lúntāi).

You’re fortunate if you have a 车库 (chēkù garage) in which to park your car. A parking lot is called 停车场 (tíngchē chǎng), and a parking space is called 停车位 (tíngchē wèi). Some parking lots charge a parking fee, or 停车费 (tíngchē fèi).

The unit for counting cars is 辆 (liàng).

他最近买了一辆新车.
Tā zuìjìn mǎile yī liàng xīnchē.
He recently bought a new car.

那是一辆跑车
Nà shì yī liàng pǎochē.
That is a sports car.

那辆车的车牌是xxxxx.
Nà liàng chē de chēpái shì xxxxx.
That car’s license plate is xxxxx.

(Refer to Chapter 6 of “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes” for other units for counting various things in Chinese.)

A train is called 火车 (huǒchē). A train station is 火车站 (huǒchē zhàn).車票 (chēpiào) is a transport ticket.

那列火车有20节车厢.
Nà liè huǒchē yǒu 20 jié chēxiāng.
That train has 20 carriages.

请问餐车在哪里?
Qǐngwèn cānchē zài nǎlǐ.
Please, where is the dining car?

上车 (shàng chē) is to get in a car or get on a bus or a train, and 下车 (xià chē) is to get off.
On the other hand, 车上 (chēshàng) means in the car or on the bus or train.

Travel expenses could be called 交通费 (jiāotōng fèi) or 车马费 (chēmǎfèi).

A traffic lane is called 车道 (chēdào).

为了避免车祸, 最好不要超速行驶或者超车.
Wèile bìmiǎn chēhuò, zuì hǎo bùyào chāosù xíngshǐ huòzhě chāochē.
To avoid traffic accidents, it is best not to speed or to overtake other vehicles.

塞车 (sāichē) is to have a traffic jam, whereas 赛车 (sàichē) means car racing.

There are all sorts of vehicles in the world. Following are a few common ones:

单车 (dānchē) bicycle, also called 自行车 (zìxíngchē), or 脚踏车 (jiǎotàchē).
机车 (jīchē) motorcycle
电车 (diànchē) tram
卡车(kǎchē) truck
救护车 (jiùhù chē) ambulance
计程车 (jìchéngchē) taxi
游览车 (yóulǎn chē) tour bus
消防车 (xiāofáng chē) fire truck
吊车 (diàochē) crane

The following two machines are not vehicles. 风车 (Fēngchē) is a windmill, and 车床 (chēchuáng ) is a lathe.

Besides 辆 (liàng) and 库 (kù), there are a number of other words that take on the cart radical. We will take a look at a few common ones here.

As a verb, 较 (jiào), or 比较 (bǐjiào), is to compare. As an adverb, it means comparatively, relatively, fairly, or quite. 较量 (jiàoliàng) is to have a contest or a test of strength.

输 (shū) means to lose in a game or contest. It also means conveyance or to transport, as in 运输 (yùnshū).

输 (shū) means to transport or to lose in a game

挥 (huī) is to wave.

轻 (qīng) means light (not heavy).

软 (ruǎn) means soft.

晕 (yūn) is to faint or feel dizzy.

晖 (huī) means luminance.

裤 (kù) are pants.

轨道 (guǐdào) are tracks.

渐渐 (jiànjiàn) means gradually.

军 (jūn) means military.

阵 (zhèn) is an array. It also describes a momentary feeling that comes and goes, like labor pain. 一阵风 (yīzhènfēng) means a gust of wind.

轰炸 (hōngzhà) is bombing.

Depending on the context, 连 (lián) can take on a few different meanings. Your homework today is to search the Internet to find at least three different meanings for this word and make a sentence for each.

祝父亲节快乐!
Zhù fùqīn jié kuàilè!
Have a Happy Father’s Day!