Chinese word

排球

Pronunciation

Pinyinpái qiú

Meaning

  • nounvolleyball

Example

我们周末去打排球吧。wǒ men zhōu mò qù dǎ pái qiú ba

Let's go play volleyball this weekend.

Illustration for 排球 (volleyball)

More examples

学校有一个排球队。xué xiào yǒu yí gè pái qiú duì

The school has a volleyball team.

Core concept

A ball travels back and forth over a net as each team uses its hands and forearms to keep the rally alive.

Common phrases

  • 打排球dǎ pái qiú

    play volleyball

  • 喜欢排球xǐ huān pái qiú

    like volleyball

  • 排球比赛pái qiú bǐ sài

    volleyball match

Similar words

篮球lán qiú: A team game in which players handle a ball with their hands and score by shooting into a high hoop.
足球zú qiú: A team game in which players kick a ball with their feet and score by sending it into the goal.
乒乓球pīng pāng qiú: A game in which players hit a small ball back and forth over a table net with small paddles.
网球wǎng qiú: A game in which players strike a ball with rackets over a net and into the opponent's court.

Definition in Chinese

一种球类运动，双方在网两侧用手或前臂把球击过网以得分，室内比赛通常为每队六人制。yì zhǒng qiú lèi yùn dòng shuāng fāng zài wǎng liǎng cè yòng shǒu huò qián bì bǎ qiú jī guò wǎng yǐ dé fēn shì nèi bǐ sài tōng cháng wèi měi duì liù rén zhì

Word origin

The Chinese name is a compound of 排 (pái, "to arrange or line up") and 球 (qiú, "ball"), forming the standard name for this organized ball sport.

Usage tips

  • For a sport activity, Chinese commonly uses 打 (dǎ, "play or hit") before the sport name, so playing volleyball is expressed with the verb for taking part in a ball game.

Related words

  • 排球赛pái qiú sàivolleyball matchnoun
  • 排球队pái qiú duìvolleyball teamnoun
  • 排球场pái qiú chǎngvolleyball courtnoun

Word lists with this word