yuàn zi
courtyard; yard
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我家有一个很大的院子。
wǒ jiā yǒu yī gè hěn dà de yuàn zi.
My house has a very big yard.
我们在院子里玩耍。
wǒ men zài yuàn zi lǐ wán shuǎ.
We play in the yard.
院子里种了很多花。
yuàn zi lǐ zhòng le hěn duō huā.
There are many flowers planted in the yard.
花园 (huāyuán)
garden
庭院 (tíngyuàn)
courtyard
The Chinese word 院子 (yuànzi) for "courtyard" is composed of two characters: 院 (yuàn) and 子 (zi). The character 院 originally meant "a house with a courtyard" or "a courtyard surrounded by buildings". It is composed of the radical 宀 (miàn), which represents a roof, and the character 廴 (yǎn), which represents a person walking. This suggests that the original meaning of 院 was a place where people could walk around and relax. The character 子 (zi) is a common suffix in Chinese that can indicate a small or diminutive form of something. In this case, it suggests that 院子 is a small courtyard or a courtyard that is part of a larger building.
