马德里
mǎdélǐ
马德里 (mǎdélǐ) is the Mandarin word for Madrid.
马德里 is the name used for the capital of Spain.
Meaning: capital of Spain (name)
What does it mean word for word?
The name is a phonetic transliteration using three characters: 马 (mǎ – horse), 德 (dé – virtue/moral) and 里 (lǐ – inside/village).
Which one should you use?
You can use 马德里市 to specifically emphasize that you are referring to Madrid as a city.
How do you pronounce it?
mǎdélǐ
Did you know?
- In Mandarin, the characters chosen for 马德里 are considered 'neutral' transliterations, meaning they don't accidentally create an insulting or funny phrase when read together.
- The character 德 in 马德里 is so common in foreign place names that it is the standard go-to character for the sound 'de', appearing in the Mandarin names for 'Germany' (德国) and 'Delhi' (德里).
- The character 里 (lǐ) used in 马德里 is also the name of a traditional Chinese unit of distance called the 'li'.
Examples in context
- 从马德里来的人都很怪。People from Madrid are weird.This sentence uses 马德里 to describe people coming from the city.Tatoeba #334432 by fucongcong, translation #1558 by CN
- 我叔叔住在西班牙的首都马德里。My uncle lives in Madrid, the capital of Spain.This sentence uses 马德里 to identify the capital of Spain.Tatoeba #452600 by peipei, translation #65077 by CK
- 马德里竞技遭遇失败后，很明显大家都很生气。It was evident that everyone was upset when Atletico Madrid suffered defeat.This sentence uses 马德里 as part of the name for the Atletico Madrid sports team.Tatoeba #3579586 by trieuho, translation #3579587 by trieuho
- 我明年要去马德里旅游。I'm going to travel to Madrid next year.
- 马德里市是西班牙的首都。Madrid is the capital of Spain.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing travel plans to Europe.
- 雨婷 Yuting你去西班牙的时候要去马德里吗？Nǐ qù Xībānyá de shíhou yào qù Mǎdélǐ ma?Are you going to Madrid when you visit Spain?
- 志强 Zhiqiang我想去，但还没买票。Wǒ xiǎng qù, dàn hái méi mǎi piào.I want to, but I haven't bought the tickets yet.
- 雨婷 Yuting马德里有很多漂亮的博物馆。Mǎdélǐ yǒu hěnduō piàoliang de bówùguǎn.Madrid has many beautiful museums.
- 志强 Zhiqiang那我一定要去看看。Nà wǒ yīdìng yào qù kànkan.Then I definitely have to go see them.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
