车 (chē): vehicle
车 (chē) is a Chinese character meaning “vehicle.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 七 (structural) and 十 (structural). It ranks #361 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 车 simplified form of 車, a cart with two wheels, seen from above. Its radical form 车 (cart) appears in many related characters such as 轻 (qīng, light), 辆 (liàng, measure word for vehicles), 转 (zhuǎn, to turn, to transfer).
Definitions
- vehicle
Etymology & Origin
pictographicSimplified form of 車, a cart with two wheels, seen from above
Decomposition: ⿻七十 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 车 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 车
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 汽车noun | qì chē | car | 3 |
| 开车verb | kāi chē | to drive a car (or train etc) | 1 |
| 公交车noun | gōng jiāo chē | public transport vehicle | 2 |
| 停车verb | tíng chē | to pull up (stop one's vehicle) | 4 |
| 火车noun | huǒ chē | train | 1 |
| 出租车noun | chū zū chē | taxi | 1 |
| 车祸noun | chē huò | traffic accident | 5 |
| 停车场noun | tíng chē chǎng | parking lot | 4 |
| 救护车noun | jiù hù chē | ambulance | 5 |
| 自行车noun | zì xíng chē | bicycle | 3 |
| 货车noun | huò chē | truck | 6 |
| 车站noun | chē zhàn | rail station | 2 |
| 车库noun | chē kù | garage | 5 |
| 摩托车noun | mó tuō chē | (loanword) motorbike | 6 |
| 车辆noun | chē liàng | vehicle | 5 |
| 列车noun | liè chē | (railway) train | 5 |
| 刹车verb/noun | shā chē | to brake (when driving) | 6 |
| 动车noun | dòng chē | (PRC) (D- or C-class) high-speed train | 4 |
| 车厢noun | chē xiāng | carriage | 5 |
| 堵车verb | dǔ chē | traffic jam | 4 |
| 车主noun | chē zhǔ | vehicle owner | 5 |
| 车位noun | chē wèi | parking spot | 4 |
| 倒车verb | dǎo chē | to change buses, trains etc | 6 |
| 打车verb | dǎ chē | to take a taxi (in town) | 2 |
| 晕车verb | yùn chē | to be carsick | 6 |
| 车速noun | chē sù | vehicle speed | 4 |
| 电动车noun | diàn dòng chē | electric vehicle (commonly refers to e-bikes, scooters or electric cars) | 4 |
| 客车noun | kè chē | coach | 6 |
| 机动车noun | jī dòng chē | motor vehicle | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 卡车noun | kǎ chē | truck |
| 车子 | chē zi | car or other vehicle (bicycle, truck etc) |
| 上车 | shàng chē | to get on or into (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 公车noun | gōng chē | bus |
| 轿车noun | jiào chē | (old) enclosed carriage for carrying passengers |
| 拖车noun | tuō chē | to tow |
| 马车noun | mǎ chē | cart |
| 车牌noun | chē pái | vehicle license plate |
| 驾车verb | jià chē | to drive a vehicle |
| 赛车noun | sài chē | auto race |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 计程车noun | jì chéng chē | (Tw) taxi |
车 appears in 117 compound words: 31 as the first character, 66 as the last, and 3 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 车 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
do something irrespective of external circumstances; to operate in a vacuum
previous experience of failure that serves as a lesson for oneself or others
(of an official) to travel with little luggage and just a small escort; to travel without ostentation
Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 车.
Example Sentences
车祸发生后，交警迅速赶到现场处理。
Chēhuò fāshēng hòu, jiāojǐng xùnsù gǎn dào xiànchǎng chǔlǐ.
After the car accident, traffic police quickly arrived at the scene to handle it.
...G大军注意!雅西高速成都往西昌方向多路段车多缓..
. . . dà jūn zhù yì ! yǎ xī gāo sù chéng dū wǎng xī chāng fāng xiàng duō lù duàn chē duō huǎn . .
... ...G army attention! Yaxi high-speed Chengdu to Xichang direction of many sections of traffic slow ...
年初二全国高速公路流量快速回升,午后车流持续保持高..
nián chū èr quán guó gāo sù gōng lù liú liáng kuài sù huí shēng , wǔ hòu chē liú chí xù bǎo chí gāo . .
Traffic volume on national expressways rebounded rapidly on the second day of the Lunar New Year, with high levels persisting throughout the afternoon.
新春走基层丨9年前带3岁女儿开出租车的单亲妈妈,除..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng 丨 nián qián dài suì nǚ ér kāi chū zū chē de shàn qīn mā mā , chú . .
Spring Festival Grassroots Report | Single Mom Who Drove a Taxi with Her 3-Year-Old Daughter 9 Years Ago...
俄罗斯莫斯科地铁举行中国春节主题列车发车仪式
é luó sī mò sī kē dì tiě jǔ háng zhōng guó chūn jié zhǔ tí liè chē fā chē yí shì
Moscow Metro Holds Launch Ceremony for Chinese New Year-Themed Train
为圆79岁母亲的“北京梦”,小伙儿包车带15口人进..
wéi yuán suì mǔ qīn de běi jīng mèng , xiǎo huǒ ér bāo chē dài kǒu rén jìn . .
To fulfill his 79-year-old mother's "Beijing dream," a young man chartered a bus to bring 15 family members to...
你的妈妈会开车吗？
Nǐ de māma huì kāichē ma?
Can your mother drive a car?
这是去牛津大学的车吗？
Zhè shì qù Niújīn Dàxué de chē ma?
Is this the bus to Oxford?
你叔叔让你开他的车了吗？
Nǐ shūshu ràng nǐ kāi tā de chē le ma?
Did your uncle let you drive his car?
你能把你的自行车借给我吗？
Nǐ néng bǎ nǐ de zìxíngchē jiè gěi wǒ ma?
Can you lend me your bicycle?
Character Family
车 Radical Family — Characters sharing the cart radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 车 (chē)?
Is 车 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 车 with real-time feedback
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