HSK · Level 49
120 words
Chinese word
平原
Pronunciation
Pinyinpíng yuán
Meaning
- nounplain
Example
那片平原很美。nà piàn píng yuán hěn měi
That plain is very beautiful.
More examples
风从平原吹来，带来凉意。fēng cóng píng yuán chuī lái dài lái liáng yì
The wind blew from the plain, bringing coolness.
Core concept
A broad stretch of land where a relatively even surface matters more than what grows on it.
Common phrases
平原地区píng yuán dì qū
plain area
流经平原liú jīng píng yuán
flow through the plain
平原上的村庄píng yuán shàng de cūn zhuāng
village on the plain
Similar words
草原cǎo yuán: A wide area of land covered mainly with grass and having very few trees.
平地píng dì: A wide stretch of land with almost no rises or dips.
高原gāo yuán: A broad, flat area of land located at a high elevation.
丘陵qiū líng: Land shaped by a series of gentle, small hills.
Definition in Chinese
平原 指自然界中表面较为平坦且面积较大的土地，植被可多可少，不限于仅有草地。píng yuán zhǐ zì rán jiè zhōng biǎo miàn jiào wéi píng tǎn qiě miàn jī jiào dà de tǔ dì zhí bèi kě duō ké shǎo bú xiàn yú jǐn yǒu cǎo dì
Word origin
平原 (píngyuán, "plain") combines 平 (píng, "level") with 原 (yuán, "open land"), making the terrain's broad, even character visible in the word.
Usage tips
- English plain can mean simple or unadorned as well as a landform, whereas 平原 (píngyuán, "plain") stays in the geographic sense in Chinese.
Other meanings
- flat groundnoun
Opposites
- 山地shān dìmountainous areanoun
- 高地gāo dìhighlandnoun