Chinese word

驾驶

Pronunciation

Pinyinjià shǐ

Meaning

  • verbdrive

Example

驾驶汽车要注意安全。jià shǐ qì chē yào zhù yì ān quán

Driving a car requires attention to safety.

Illustration for 驾驶 (drive)

More examples

雨雾天气能见度低，驾驶摩托车要格外小心。yǔ wù tiān qì néng jiàn dù dī jià shǐ mó tuō chē yào gé wài xiǎo xīn

In rainy or foggy weather, visibility is low, so be especially careful when driving a motorcycle.

Core concept

Directly controlling a vehicle's direction and speed so it moves along a chosen route.

Common phrases

  • 驾驶汽车jià shǐ qì chē

    drive a car

  • 驾驶电动车jià shǐ diàn dòng chē

    drive an electric vehicle

  • 驾驶摩托车jià shǐ mó tuō chē

    drive a motorcycle

Similar words

开车kāi chē: Driving a car in ordinary conversation.
行驶xíng shǐ: Moving along a road or across water as a vehicle.

Definition in Chinese

操纵机动车或其他交通工具，使其按预定方向和速度行驶的行为或能力。cāo zòng jī dòng chē huò qí tā jiāo tōng gōng jù shǐ qí àn yù dìng fāng xiàng hé sù dù xíng shǐ de xíng wéi huò néng lì

Word origin

驾 (jià, "control a vehicle or horse") + 驶 (shǐ, "move forward") form a compound that extends the older idea of guiding a horse to operating modern vehicles.

Usage tips

  • In spoken Chinese, 开车 (kāi chē, "drive a car") commonly covers ordinary car trips, whereas the formal term appears more often in regulations, safety information, and technical descriptions.

Other meanings

  • operateverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 驾驶员jià shǐ yuándrivernoun
  • 驾驶证jià shǐ zhèngdriver's licensenoun

Word lists with this word