qì chē
car
我有一辆汽车。
wǒ yǒu yī liàng qì chē.
I have a car.
汽车停在路边。
qì chē tíng zài lù biān.
The car is parked on the side of the road.
汽车开得很慢。
qì chē kāi dé hěn màn.
The car is driving very slowly.
轿车 (jiàochē)
sedan
小汽车 (xiǎoqìchē)
small car
汽车 (qìchē)
car
自行车 (zìxíngchē)
bicycle
摩托车 (mótuōchē)
motorcycle
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The Chinese word 汽车 (qìchē) for "automobile" is a compound of two characters: **汽** (qì) and **车** (chē). The character **汽** originally meant "steam" or "vapor", and was later extended to mean "gasoline" or "petrol". The character **车** originally meant "cart" or "carriage", and was later extended to mean "automobile". The combination of these two characters thus literally means "gasoline-powered cart", which is a fitting name for an automobile.It's worth noting that the word 汽车 is not the only way to say "automobile" in Chinese. Another common term is 小汽车 (xiǎoqìchē), which literally means "small automobile". This term is often used to refer to passenger cars, as opposed to larger vehicles such as trucks or buses.
