区 (qū): area, region, district, small, distinguish
区 (qū) is a Chinese character meaning “area.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 匸 (structural) and 乂 (structural). It ranks #265 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 区 a place 匸 under a lord's control 乂. Its radical form 匸 (hiding) appears in many related characters such as 匹 (pǐ, (bound form) matching), 匿 (nì, to hide).
Definitions
- area
- region
- district
- small
- distinguish
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA place 匸 under a lord's control 乂
Decomposition: ⿷匸乂 (layout: surround-from-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 区 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 区
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 地区noun | dì qū | region | 5 |
| 区别verb/noun | qū bié | difference | 4 |
| 区域noun | qū yù | area | 5 |
| 社区noun | shè qū | community | 5 |
| 市区noun | shì qū | urban district | 4 |
| 郊区noun | jiāo qū | suburban district | 4 |
| 区分verb | qū fēn | to differentiate | 6 |
| 小区noun | xiǎo qū | housing estate | 3 |
| 山区noun | shān qū | mountain area | 5 |
| 城区noun | chéng qū | city district | 5 |
| 灾区noun | zāi qū | disaster area | 6 |
| 景区noun | jǐng qū | scenic area | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 街区noun | jiē qū | block |
| 特区noun | tè qū | special administrative region |
| 东区 | dōng qū | Dong District or Dongqu, a district of Panzhihua City 攀枝花市, Sichuan |
| 教区noun | jiào qū | diocese |
| 西区 | xī qū | Xi District or Xiqu, a district of Panzhihua City 攀枝花市, Sichuan |
| 贫民区noun | pín mín qū | slum area |
| 辖区noun | xiá qū | administrative region |
| 禁区noun | jìn qū | restricted area |
| 住宅区noun | zhù zhái qū | residential area |
| 选区noun | xuǎn qū | electoral district |
| 时区noun | shí qū | time zone |
| 区区adjective | qū qū | insignificant |
| 雷区noun | léi qū | minefield (lit. and fig.) |
| 保护区noun | bǎo hù qū | conservation district |
| 战区noun | zhàn qū | war zone |
区 appears in 101 compound words: 16 as the first character, 83 as the last, and 1 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 区 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
Example Sentences
这个商业区很繁华，有很多大型购物中心。
Zhè gè shāngyè qū hěn fánhuá, yǒu hěn duō dàxíng gòuwù zhōngxīn.
This commercial district is very prosperous, with many large shopping centers.
大年初一全社会跨区域人员流动量超2.1亿人次 全国..
dà nián chū yī quán shè huì kuà ōu yù rén yuán liú dòng liáng chāo . yì rén cì quán guó . .
The first day of the Lunar New Year saw more than 210 million inter-regional movements of people across the country...
寒风中的暖流丨贵安新区市场监督管理局为外卖骑手送去..
hán fēng zhōng de nuǎn liú 丨 guì ān xīn ōu shì chǎng jiān dū guǎn lǐ jú wéi wài mài qí shǒu sòng qù . .
Warm Current in the Cold Wind丨Gui'an New District Market Supervision Administration sends takeaway riders...
新春走军营丨北部战区陆军某边防旅巡逻艇中队守望北疆..
xīn chūn zǒu jūn yíng 丨 běi bù zhàn ōu lù jūn mǒu biān fáng lǚ xún luó tǐng zhōng duì shǒu wàng běi jiāng . .
The new spring walk military camp丨Army in the northern theater of war a border guard brigade patrol boat squadron watch over the northern border ...
春运进行时|为二次元乘客开辟临时卸妆区 桂林公园站..
chūn yùn jìn háng shí wéi èr cì yuán chéng kè kāi bì lín shí xiè zhuāng ōu guì lín gōng yuán zhàn . .
Spring Festival in Progress|Temporary Makeup Removal Area Opened for Secondary Passengers Guilin Park Station...
大湾区航空飞往台北航班遇大雾盘旋后折返,航司回...
dà wān ōu háng kōng fēi wǎng tái běi háng bān yù dà wù pán xuán hòu shé fǎn , háng sī huí . . .
A Greater Bay Area Airlines flight to Taipei encountered heavy fog, circled, and then returned to base. The airline responded...
钢琴和鱼有什么区别？
Gāngqín hé yú yǒu shénme qūbié?
What is the difference between a piano and a fish?
鹰鸮和仓鸮有什么区别？
Yīngxiāo hé cāngxiāo yǒu shénme qūbié?
What's the difference between an eagle-owl and a barn owl?
馒头和馍馍有区别吗？
Mántou hé mómo yǒu qūbié ma?
Is there a difference between steamed buns and steamed bread?
整个小区对这个消息很惊讶。
Zhěnggè xiǎoqū duì zhège xiāoxi hěn jīngyà.
The whole neighborhood was surprised at the news.
Character Family
匸 Radical Family — Characters sharing the hiding radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 区 (qū) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 区 and 大?
How many strokes does 区 have?
What is the radical of 区?
What are the components of 区?
What are common words containing 区?
Is 区 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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