How to Say "Chicago" in Chinese

芝加哥

Zhījiāgē

芝加哥 (Zhījiāgē) is the Chinese name for the US city Chicago.

芝加哥 is used to refer to the city. In informal contexts, 风城 is a popular term used to refer to Chicago and translates to 'the windy city'.

Meaning: large US city (name)

How do you pronounce it?

The romanization is Zhījiāgē.

While 芝加哥 is a phonetic translation, the characters chosen are not random. 芝 refers to a divine mushroom or auspicious fungus, which gives the city's name a hidden layer of prosperity in Chinese.
The romanization Zhījiāgē uses the pinyin system, where the 'Zh' sound is a retroflex consonant that requires the tongue to curl back, a sound that does not exist in standard English.
The character 哥 in 芝加哥 is frequently used in names to mean 'older brother', which gives the city's name a slightly masculine or familiar tone to a native speaker.

他們開車去芝加哥。
They went to Chicago by car.
This sentence shows how to use 芝加哥 when talking about traveling to the city by car.
Tatoeba #13524158 by LeviHighway, translation #306813 by kebukebu
我们要从波士顿飞往芝加哥。
We're flying from Boston to Chicago.
This sentence shows how to use 芝加哥 when talking about flying to the city.
Tatoeba #9955963 by GlossaMatik, translation #9483680 by DJ_Saidez
新的分店下箇月在芝加哥開始營業。
A new branch will be opened in Chicago next month.
This sentence shows how to use 芝加哥 when discussing a business opening in the city.
Tatoeba #5655353 by verdastelo9604, translation #269167 by CK
14 more sentences on Tatoeba

志强 and 佳怡 are discussing a travel plan.

志强 Zhiqiang

你想去芝加哥旅游吗？
Nǐ xiǎng qù Zhījiāgē lǚyóu ma?
Do you want to travel to Chicago?
佳怡 Jiayi

好啊，我也想去芝加哥。
Hǎo a, wǒ yě xiǎng qù Zhījiāgē.
Sure, I want to go to Chicago too.
志强 Zhiqiang

那我们现在就开始订机票吧。
Nà wǒmen xiànzài jiù kāishǐ dìng jīpiào ba.
Then let's start booking the flight tickets now.
佳怡 Jiayi

太棒了，我好兴奋！
Tài bàng le, wǒ hǎo xīngfèn!
Great, I'm so excited!

Sources

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