金牌
jīnpái
The English phrase 'gold medal' is expressed in Mandarin as 金牌 (jīnpái).
金牌 is used to refer to a medal made of or having the color of gold. When describing the act of winning a gold medal, you can use the verb 贏得 (yíngdé) to mean 'to win' or 獲得 (huòdé) to mean 'to obtain/win'.
Meaning: medal made of, or having the colour of, gold (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term 金牌 is composed of 金 (jīn), meaning gold and 牌 (pái), meaning medal or plate/badge.
Which one should you use?
金牌 refers specifically to the gold medal, whereas 銀牌 (yínpái) is used for the silver medal and 銅牌 (tóngpái) is used for the bronze medal.
How do you pronounce it?
jīnpái
Did you know?
- In historical contexts, a 金牌 was sometimes a golden tablet given by an emperor as a token of high authority or a special permit to bypass certain laws.
- In modern Chinese marketing, 金牌 is frequently used as a prefix for 'best-in-class' products, such as 金牌面粉 for a 'gold medal' brand of flour, regardless of whether any actual competition took place.
- The character 牌 (pái) is also the root for 麻將牌 (májiàng pái), referring to Mahjong tiles. This shows how the same character for 'medal' also describes small, flat rectangular markers used in games.
Examples in context
- 在奧運比賽中，金牌代表第一名，銀牌代表第二名，銅牌代表第三名。In Olympic competitions, the gold medal represents first place, the silver medal represents second place, and the bronze medal represents third place.This sentence shows how 金牌 represents first place in Olympic competitions.Tatoeba #13593953 by LeviHighway, translation #13545901 by LeviHighway
- 我得了金牌。I won the gold medal.This sentence uses 金牌 to show that someone won the gold medal.Tatoeba #1516453 by gonnastop, translation #1182398 by CK
- 你們覺得誰會贏金牌？Who do you think will win the gold medal?This sentence uses 金牌 to ask who is expected to win the gold medal.Tatoeba #10268887 by DaoSeng, translation #3058823 by CK
- 他在游泳比赛中获得了金牌。He won a gold medal in the swimming competition.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are watching the Olympic Games together.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen你覺得他能拿到金牌嗎？Nǐ juéde tā néng nádào jīnpái ma?Do you think he can get the gold medal?
- 浩然 Haoran我覺得他很有機會贏得金牌。Wǒ juéde tā hěn yǒu jīhuì yíngdé jīnpái.I think he has a good chance of winning the gold medal.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen看！他贏了，拿到了金牌！Kàn! Tā yíngle, nádàole jīnpái!Look! He won and got the gold medal!
- 浩然 Haoran太棒了，這塊金牌實至名歸。Tài bàngle, zhè kuài jīnpái shí zhì míng guī.Great, this gold medal is well-deserved.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “gold medal” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
