沙发
The Chinese word for sofa is 沙发.
沙发 is the term used to refer to a sofa.
What does it mean word for word?
沙发 is a phonetic loanword from English. The first syllable 沙 corresponds to the 'so' in sofa, and the second syllable 发 corresponds to the 'fa' in sofa.
How does it change in a sentence?
When counting sofas, use the classifier 张 (zhāng). However, in casual spoken Chinese, it is common to use the measure word 个 (gè).
Did you know?
- In Chinese internet culture, 沙发 is used as a slang term for the first person to comment on a blog post or forum thread. This 'first floor' commenter is said to have claimed the 'sofa'.
- Because 沙发 is a phonetic transliteration, its constituent characters have no inherent connection to furniture. The character 沙 actually means 'sand' and 发 can mean 'to send' or 'hair', making the word's literal meaning 'sand hair' or 'sand send'.
- The measure word 张 (zhāng) used for 沙发 is the same one used for a piece of paper. This is because the character implies a flat, wide surface.
Examples in context
- 就在沙发上。It's just there on the sofa.This sentence shows how to use 沙发 to indicate a location.Tatoeba #394448 by GlossaMatik, translation #7211476 by sundown
- 我们想买张沙发。We would like to buy a sofa.This sentence uses 沙发 to express a desire to purchase one.Tatoeba #4265139 by notabene, translation #43237 by CK
- 玛丽在沙发上凑近了汤姆。Mary moved closer to Tom on the sofa.This sentence uses 沙发 to describe someone's position.Tatoeba #13278130 by Enzo, translation #5394323 by Hybrid
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Wei and Zihan are looking at furniture in a showroom.
- 伟 Wei这张沙发很舒服。Zhè zhāng shāfā hěn shūfu.This sofa is very comfortable.
- 梓涵 Zihan我也觉得这沙发不错。Wǒ yě juéde zhè shāfā bùcuò.I also think this sofa is quite good.
- 伟 Wei我们要买这套沙发吗？Wǒmen yào mǎi zhè tào shāfā ma?Do we want to buy this sofa set?
- 梓涵 Zihan好啊，买吧。Hǎo a, mǎi ba.Okay, let's buy it.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
