How to Say "Block" in Chinese

街区

jiēqū

In Chinese, the English word 'block' can be translated as 街区 (jiēqū).

Meaning: to fill, making it impossible to pass (verb)

Which one should you use?

拦住 means to block or to stop and is mostly used in spoken Chinese, whereas 阻碍 is a formal word meaning to obstruct or to impede.

In Cantonese, the word for block is 擋. In Taiwanese Mandarin, the word 封鎖 is used to mean to block.

jiēqū

In digital contexts, such as blocking a user on social media, Chinese speakers often use 拉黑 (lāhēi), which literally means 'to pull into the black'.
The word 街 (jiē) in 街区 refers to a street, but in ancient Chinese it specifically referred to the marketplace where merchants gathered.
When using 拦住 (lánzhù) to mean 'to block', the second character 住 (zhù) acts as a resultative complement, implying the action has successfully 'stuck' or 'fixed' the obstacle in place.

她住在一个街区之外，名叫苏珊。
She lives a block away and her name is Susan.
This sentence uses 街区 to describe a distance of one block away.
Tatoeba #1394799 by mtdot, translation #65611 by CP
交通堵塞阻碍了我们的行程。(Jiāotōng dǔsè zǔài le wǒmen de xíngchéng.)
Traffic congestion blocked our journey.
我试图拦住他的去路，但他还是逃走了。(Wǒ shìtú lán zhù tā de qùlù, dàn tā háishì táozǒu le.)
I tried to block his way, but he still managed to escape.
他挡住了门口，不让任何人进入。(Tā dǎng zhù le ménkǒu, bù ràng rènhé rén jìnrù.)
He blocked the entrance and didn't let anyone in.
下雨堵塞了排水系统。(Xià yǔ dǔsè le páishuǐ xìtǒng.)
The rain blocked up the drainage system.

Zihan and Junjie are discussing where to meet.

梓涵 Zihan

我们在那个街区见吧。
Wǒmen zài nàge jiēqū jiàn ba.
Let's meet in that block.
俊杰 Junjie

哪个街区？我不记得了。
Nǎge jiēqū? Wǒ bù jìdé le.
Which block? I don't remember.
梓涵 Zihan

就是银行所在的那个街区。
Jiùshì yínháng suǒzài de nàge jiēqū.
The block where the bank is located.
俊杰 Junjie

好的，我马上过去。
Hǎo de, wǒ mǎshàng guòqù.
Okay, I'll head over there now.

Sources

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