jǐng chá
police
Practice writing with stroke order guidance, audio pronunciation, and interactive exercises in our mobile app.
Step-by-step stroke order animations
Native speaker audio pronunciation
Interactive writing recognition
警察正在追捕罪犯。
Jǐngchá zhèngzài zhuībǔ zuìfàn.
The police are chasing the criminal.
我看到一个警察在街上巡逻。
Wǒ kàn dào yīgè jǐngchá zài jiēshàng xúnluó.
I saw a policeman patrolling the street.
警察局就在市中心。
Jǐngchájú jiù zài shì zhōngxīn.
The police station is in the city center.
公安 (gōng'ān)
public security
警员 (jǐngyuán)
police officer
罪犯 (zuìfàn)
criminal
小偷 (xiǎotōu)
thief
The Chinese word 警察 (jǐngchá) for "police" is a compound of two characters: - **警** (jǐng) means "to warn" or "to be vigilant". - **察** (chá) means "to inspect" or "to investigate". Together, the two characters suggest the idea of "maintaining order and security by means of vigilance and investigation". The word 警察 first appeared in the late Qing dynasty, and it was officially adopted as the standard term for "police" in the early 20th century.
