Chinese word

火车

Pronunciation

Pinyinhuǒ chē

Meaning

  • nountrain

Example

我坐火车去北京。wǒ zuò huǒ chē qù běi jīng

I take the train to Beijing.

Illustration for 火车 (train)

More examples

我去火车站买票。wǒ qù huǒ chē zhàn mǎi piào

I go to the train station to buy a ticket.

Core concept

A connected set of carriages moves along rails as one vehicle for carrying people or goods.

Common phrases

  • 坐火车zuò huǒ chē

    take the train

  • 买火车票mǎi huǒ chē piào

    buy a train ticket

  • 去火车站qù huǒ chē zhàn

    go to the train station

Similar words

列车liè chē: The formal name for a train that runs on a railway.
高铁gāo tiě: A very fast train used to cover long distances quickly.

Definition in Chinese

在铁轨上行驶、由车厢或机车组成，用于运输旅客或货物的交通工具总称。zài tié guǐ shàng xíng shǐ yóu chē xiāng huò jī chē zǔ chéng yòng yú yùn shū lǚ kè huò huò wù de jiāo tōng gōng jù zǒng chēng

Word origin

The compound 火 (huǒ, "fire") + 车 (chē, "vehicle") arose in the steam era, when fire powered rail vehicles, and later became the general word for a train.

Usage tips

  • Chinese commonly counts a whole train with 列 (liè, "row"), while English usually uses no special counting word before train.

Related words

Word lists with this word