公园
gōngyuán
The English word 'park' (meaning a recreational ground) is 公园 (gōngyuán) in Chinese.
公园 refers to a park used for recreation.
Meaning: ground for recreation (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of 公 (gōng), meaning 'public' and 园 (yuán), meaning 'garden' or 'park'.
Which one should you use?
Use 公园 (gōngyuán) specifically for a recreational park. Do not use it when you mean the verb 'to park a vehicle'. For that action, use 停车 (tíngchē).
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
gōngyuán
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use 公园 to mean the action of parking a car. Instead, use 停车.
Did you know?
- The character 公 in 公园 can also mean 'male' when referring to animals, such as 公鸡 for 'rooster'.
- The term 园 originally referred to a walled enclosure, reflecting the ancient Chinese tradition of protecting private gardens from the outside world.
- Chinese parks often feature 'exercise equipment' that looks like gym machinery but is made of heavy steel and provided for free to the public.
Examples in context
- 我在公园里走。I'm walking in the park.This sentence shows how to use 公园 to describe walking in a location.Tatoeba #5767606 by verdastelo9604, translation #3479747 by AlanF_US
- 我们去了公园玩。We went to the park to play.This sentence shows how to use 公园 to describe going to a location to play.Tatoeba #2081684 by sadhen, translation #263308 by CK
- 那里也有个公园。There's also a park there.This sentence shows how to use 公园 to indicate the existence of a park.Tatoeba #8798310 by crescat, translation #530664 by CM
- 66 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
RainG (Yu Ting) and Zhiqiang are deciding where to spend the afternoon.
- 雨婷 Yuting我们去附近的公园吧。Wǒmen qù fùjìn de gōngyuán ba.Let's go to a nearby park.
- 志强 Zhiqiang那个公园很大吗？Nàge gōngyuán hěn dà ma?Is that park very big?
- 雨婷 Yuting是的，非常漂亮。Shì de, fēicháng piàoliang.Yes, it is very beautiful.
- 志强 Zhiqiang好，那我们走吧。Hǎo, nà wǒmen zǒu ba.Okay, let's go then.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
