辦公室 / 办公室
bàngōngshì
The Chinese word for office is 辦公室 / 办公室, romanized as bàngōngshì. Wiktionary also lists 事務所 / 事务所 (shìwùsuǒ).
Meaning: room(s) or building used for non-manual work (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 辦公室 / 办公室 | bàngōngshì |
| 事務所 / 事务所 | shìwùsuǒ |
辦公室 / 办公室 refers to the physical room or building where non-manual work is performed, such as when you say you are physically located in the office.
What does it mean word for word?
The term 辦公室 / 办公室 is composed of 辦公 (bàngōng), which means 'to work' or 'to handle official business' and 室 (shì), meaning 'room'.
Which one should you use?
While 辦公室 / 办公室 refers to a physical office space or room, 事務所 / 事务所 (shìwùsuǒ) is typically used to refer to a professional firm or agency, such as a law firm or accounting firm.
How do you pronounce it?
bàngōngshì
Did you know?
- In Chinese corporate culture, the size and position of a person's 辦公室 / 办公室 often visually signal their rank and authority within the company hierarchy.
- In some traditional contexts, 辦公 carries a nuance of 'handling official affairs' for the government, reflecting the history of the imperial bureaucracy.
- The characters for 辦公室 / 办公室 use a different script style depending on the region, with the traditional 辦 containing significantly more strokes than the simplified 办.
Examples in context
- 我今天要去办公室开会。I have to go to the office for a meeting today.
- 我在这家公司的办公室工作。I work in this company's office.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “office” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
