乘 (chéng): to ride, to mount, to make use of
乘 (chéng) is a Chinese character meaning “to ride.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (structural) and 北 (structural). It ranks #1225 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 乘 two feet 北 climbing a beanstalk 禾. Its radical form 丿 (slash) appears in many related characters such as 么 (má, exclamatory final particle), 久 (jiǔ, (of a period of time) long), 乐 (lè, happy).
Definitions
- to ride
- to mount
- to make use of
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwo feet 北 climbing a beanstalk 禾
Decomposition: ⿻禾北 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 乘 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 乘
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 乘客noun | chéng kè | passenger | 4 |
| 乘坐verb | chéng zuò | to take (a ship, plane etc) | 4 |
| 乘务员noun | chéng wù yuán | attendant on an airplane, train, boat etc | 5 |
| 换乘verb | huàn chéng | to change train (plane, bus etc) | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 搭乘 | dā chéng | to ride as a passenger |
| 乘车 | chéng chē | to ride (in a car or carriage) |
| 乘船 | chéng chuán | to embark |
| 有机可乘 | yǒu jī kě chéng | to have an opportunity that one can exploit (idiom) |
| 乘机 | chéng jī | to take the opportunity |
| 上乘 | shàng chéng | first-class |
| 乘虚而入 | chéng xū ér rù | to enter by exploiting a weak spot (idiom) |
| 乘法表 | chéng fǎ biǎo | multiplication table |
| 乘法 | chéng fǎ | multiplication |
| 乘警 | chéng jǐng | police on trains |
| 乘务 | chéng wù | service (on a train, a plane etc) |
| 乘风破浪 | chéng fēng pò làng | to brave the wind and the billows (idiom) |
| 可乘之机 | kě chéng zhī jī | (idiom) an opportunity that someone (usually a villain or adversary) can exploit |
| 乘凉 | chéng liáng | to cool off in the shade |
| 乘积 | chéng jī | product (result of multiplication) |
乘 appears in 70 compound words: 56 as the first character, 29 as the last, and 16 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 乘 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
to fearlessly and steadfastly pursue a goal without regard to setbacks
to live in luxury; lit. to ride a solid carriage pulled by fat horses
to take advantage of sb in an unguarded moment (idiom); to take sb by surprise
to follow up a victory with pursuit and attack; to continue pursuing a retreating army
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; arithmetic operations
to fearlessly and steadfastly pursue a goal without regard to setbacks
to take advantage of sb in an unguarded moment (idiom); to take sb by surprise
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; arithmetic operations
Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 乘.
Example Sentences
写好乘字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo chéng zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "乘" correctly, you need to master the proper stroke order.
轿车藏毒图逃检入境狮城被截 大马司机及乘客双双被捕
jiào chē zàng dú tú táo jiǎn rù jìng shī chéng bèi jié dà mǎ sī jī jí chéng kè shuāng shuāng bèi bǔ
The car was intercepted for drug possession and attempted to evade inspection into the Lion City, and both the Malaysian driver and passengers were arrested
...麻地校巴与Tesla相撞 10岁学童和女乘客不适
. . . má dì jiào bā yǔ T e s l a xiāng zhuàng 1 0 suì xué tóng hé nǚ chéng kè bù shì
... Madi school bus collided with Tesla 10-year-old schoolchild and female passenger were unwell
诗巫肥料罗里追尾油槽罗里 乘客不幸丧命 两人受伤
shī wū féi liào luó lǐ zhuī wěi yóu cáo luó lǐ chéng kè bù xìng sāng mìng liǎng rén shòu shāng
Sibu Fertilizer Rory rear-ended the oil tank Rory, the passenger was killed, and two others were injured
900克黄金遗漏列车 女乘客失而复得
9 0 0 kè huáng jīn yí lòu liè chē nǚ chéng kè shī ér fù dé
900 grams of gold missing train Female passenger lost and recovered
鹿儿岛补助外国游客乘搭新干线引争议 知事:可创17亿日圆效益
lù ér dǎo bǔ zhù wài guó yóu kè chéng dā xīn gān xiàn yǐn zhēng yì zhī shì : kě chuàng 1 7 yì rì yuán xiào yì
Kagoshima subsidizes foreign tourists to take the Shinkansen and causes controversy Governor: It can create a benefit of 1.7 billion yen
“腾”和“乘”是叠韵关系。
"téng " hé "chéng " shì dié yùn guānxi.
'Teng' and 'Cheng' rhyme.
你乘飞机还是乘火车去？
Nǐ chéng fēijī háishì chéng huǒchē qù?
Are you going by air or by train?
乘机场大巴去机场要多久？
Chéngjī chǎng dàbā qù jīchǎng yào duōjiǔ?
How long does the airport bus take to the airport?
我能在哪里乘上机场巴士？
Wǒ néng zài nǎlǐ chéng shàng jīchǎng bāshì?
Where do I get an airport bus?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 乘 (chéng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 乘 have?
What is the radical of 乘?
What are the components of 乘?
What are common words containing 乘?
What characters sound the same as 乘 (chéng)?
Is 乘 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 乘 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.