gāng qín
piano; pianoforte
我喜欢弹钢琴。
wǒ xǐhuān tán gāngqín.
I like to play the piano.
他正在学钢琴。
tā zhèngzài xué gāngqín.
He is learning the piano.
这架钢琴很贵。
zhè jià gāngqín hěn guì.
This piano is very expensive.
手风琴 (shǒufēngqín)
accordion
小提琴 (xiǎotíqín)
violin
Track your progress, master characters, and achieve your Chinese language goals.
Get Started Free
The Chinese word 钢琴 (gāngqín) for "piano" is a compound of two characters: 冈 (gāng) and 琴 (qín). The character 冈 originally meant "a high hill" or "a mound", but in modern Chinese it is used as a phonetic component in many words, including 钢琴. The character 琴 (qín) means "a stringed musical instrument", and is used in the names of many other musical instruments, such as 古琴 (gǔqín, "ancient qin"), 琵琶 (pípá, "lute"), and 二胡 (èrhú, "two-stringed fiddle").The word 钢琴 was first used in Chinese in the 19th century, when Western music and musical instruments were introduced to China. It is a calque of the English word "piano", which is derived from the Greek word πιάνο (píano), meaning "soft". The name "piano" was chosen to describe the instrument's ability to produce both soft and loud sounds.The word 钢琴 is now the standard Chinese word for "piano". It is used in both formal and informal contexts, and is understood by all Chinese speakers.
