首都
shǒudū
The English word 'capital' is translated into Chinese as 首都 (shǒudū).
首都 is used to refer to the chief city of a state or nation, specifically the seat of a general government. It is used in a political sense to denote the administrative center of a country.
Meaning: chief (in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation) (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
The second character 都 means a large city or metropolis.
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish between different types of 'capital'. 首都 refers specifically to a political capital, whereas the word 资本 (zīběn) is used when referring to capital in a financial or economic sense.
How does it change in a sentence?
首都 is a noun, but it can also function as an attributive adjective to describe things related to the capital city.
How do you pronounce it?
shǒudū
Did you know?
- In historical Chinese literature, a capital was often referred to as 京 (jīng). You can still see this character in the name of the 'capital' in some contexts, such as in the word 北京 (Běijīng), which means 'Northern Capital'.
- The first character in 首都, 首, literally means 'head'. In Chinese, the concept of a political capital is conceptualized as the 'head city'.
- The character 都 can be pronounced as dū when meaning 'capital' or as dōu when meaning 'all' or 'both'.
Examples in context
- 首都天气有雨。The weather in the capital is rainy.This sentence shows how to describe the weather in the 首都.Tatoeba #10002109 by GlossaMatik, translation #8893121 by sundown
- 台北是台灣的首都。Taipei is the capital of Taiwan.This sentence is useful for identifying the 首都 of a specific place.Tatoeba #13249685 by mimosawang, translation #7908998 by MarijnKp
- 中國的首都是北京。The capital of China is Beijing.This sentence demonstrates how to state which city is the 首都 of a country.Tatoeba #13556514 by LeviHighway, translation #12783652 by Adelpa
- 北京是中国的首都。Beijing is the capital of China.
- 96 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about traveling to a new country.
- 雨婷 Yuting你想去这个国家的首都吗？Nǐ xiǎng qù zhège guójiā de shǒudū ma?Do you want to go to the capital of this country?
- 俊杰 Junjie我想去，那里很有名。Wǒ xiǎng qù, nàlǐ hěn yǒumíng.I want to go, it is very famous there.
- 雨婷 Yuting俊杰，我们可以先去那里。Jùnjié, wǒmen kěyǐ xiān qù nàlǐ.Junjie, we can go there first.
- 俊杰 Junjie好主意，雨婷。Hǎo zhǔyì, Yǔtíng.Good idea, Yuting.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
