kōng qì
air
空气污染很严重。
kōngqì wūrǎn hěn yánzhòng.
The air pollution is very serious.
我需要新鲜空气。
wǒ xūyào xīnxiān kōngqì.
I need some fresh air.
空气中含有大量的氧气。
kōngqì zhōng hán yǒu dàliàng de yǎngqì.
The air contains a lot of oxygen.
气体 (qìtǐ)
gas
大气 (dàqì)
atmosphere
固体 (gùtǐ)
solid
液体 (yètǐ)
liquid
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The Chinese word 空气 (kōngqì) for "air" is composed of two characters: 空 (kōng) and 气 (qì). The character 空 originally meant "empty" or "void", and it is often used in compounds to indicate the absence of something. For example, the word 天空 (tiānkōng) means "sky", which is literally "empty space". The character 气 originally meant "breath" or "vapor", and it is often used in compounds to refer to different types of energy or forces. For example, the word 元气 (yuánqì) means "vital energy", and the word 脾气 (píqì) means "temper". When the two characters 空 and 气 are combined, they create the word 空气, which literally means "empty breath" or "void energy". This term is used to refer to the air that we breathe, which is a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth.
