HSK Level 2

公交车

gōng jiāo chē

bus

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Example Sentences

我坐公交车去上班。

wǒ zuò gōngjiāochē qù shàngbān.

I take the bus to work.

公交车来了,我们快上车吧。

gōngjiāochē lái le, wǒmen kuài shàngchē ba.

The bus is here, let's get on quickly.

公交车很挤,我站都站不稳。

gōngjiāochē hěn jǐ, wǒ zhàn dōu zhàn bù wěn.

The bus is so crowded, I can't even stand properly.

Synonyms

巴士 (bā shì)

bus

公共汽车 (gōng gòng qì chē)

public bus

Antonyms

私家车 (sījiāchē)

private car

出租车 (chūzūchē)

taxi

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 公交车 (gōngjiāochē) for "bus" is a compound of three characters: 公 (gōng), 交 (jiāo), and 车 (chē).The character 公 (gōng) means "public" or "common". It is often used in compound words to refer to things that are shared by the public, such as 公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē, "public bus"), 公共厕所 (gōnggòng cèsuǒ, "public restroom"), and 公共图书馆 (gōnggòng túshūguǎn, "public library").The character 交 (jiāo) means "communication" or "transportation". It is also used in compound words to refer to things that are related to transportation, such as 交通 (jiāotōng, "transportation"), 交通工具 (jiāotōng gōngjù, "means of transportation"), and 交通事故 (jiāotōng shìgù, "traffic accident").The character 车 (chē) means "vehicle" or "car". It is used in a wide variety of compound words to refer to different types of vehicles, such as 汽车 (qìchē, "car"), 火车 (huǒchē, "train"), and 飞机 (fēijī, "airplane").So, the word 公交车 (gōngjiāochē) literally means "public transportation vehicle". It is a fitting name for a bus, which is a type of public transportation that is used by many people to get around.