U盘
yōu pán
The English phrase "pen drive" is translated into Mandarin as U盘 (yōu pán).
U盘 is used to refer to a flash drive or pen drive.
Meaning: flash drive (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term U盘 is a combination of the English letter 'U' and the Chinese word for disk, 盘.
How do you pronounce it?
yōu pán
Did you know?
- In Chinese, the word 盘 (pán) is used for both a digital storage disk and a physical plate or tray. This creates a linguistic link between a high-tech flash drive and a simple piece of dinnerware.
- In casual conversation, Chinese speakers often omit the word for disk entirely and simply refer to the device as a U. This reduces a complex piece of hardware to a single English letter.
- The technical term 闪存盘 (shǎncún pán) literally translates to 'flash memory disk'. While U盘 is the everyday term, this version is reserved for formal manuals and technical specifications.
Examples in context
- 我把资料都存到U盘里了。I saved all the documents to the pen drive.
- 我的U盘在桌子上。Wǒ de U pán zài zhuōzi shàng.My flash drive is on the table.
- 你可以把文件存到U盘里。Nǐ kěyǐ bǎ wénjiàn cún dào U pán lǐ.You can save the files into the flash drive.
- 我忘带U盘了。Wǒ wàng dài U pán le.I forgot to bring my flash drive.
Example conversation
志强 asks 晓雯 for a way to transfer some files.
- 志强 Zhiqiang晓雯，你带U盘了吗？Xiǎowén, nǐ dài U pán le ma?Xiaowen, did you bring a flash drive?
- 晓雯 Xiaowen我带了，你要用吗？Wǒ dài le, nǐ yào yòng ma?I brought one, do you want to use it?
- 志强 Zhiqiang太好了，我想拷贝一些资料。Tài hǎo le, wǒ xiǎng kǎobèi yīxiē zīliào.That's great, I want to copy some data.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen没问题，拿去用吧。Méi wèntí, ná qù yòng ba.No problem, go ahead and use it.
