坦克
tǎnkè/tʰän²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʰɤ⁵¹/
In Chinese, the word for tank is 坦克 (tǎnkè). Wiktionary also lists 坦克車 / 坦克车 (tǎnkèchē) and 戰車 / 战车 (zhànchē).
Meaning: armoured fighting vehicle (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 坦克 | tǎnkè | /tʰän²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʰɤ⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Sinological IPA) /tʰän²¹⁴⁻²¹ kʰɤɻ⁵¹/ (Mandarin, Standard Chinese, Erhua, Sinological IPA) |
|
| 坦克車 / 坦克车 | tǎnkèchē | ||
| 戰車 / 战车 | zhànchē | ||
| 坦克 | thán-khek | /tʰan⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kʰiɪk̚³²/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Sinological IPA, Taipei, General Taiwanese) /tʰan⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ kʰiɪk̚³²/ (Min Nan, Hokkien, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Sinological IPA, Kaohsiung, General Taiwanese) |
Hokkien |
| 鐵殼車 / 铁壳车 | thih-khak-chhia | Hokkien |
The term refers to an armoured fighting vehicle.
Which one should you use?
While 坦克 is a phonetic loan used to represent the word 'tank', the form 坦克車 adds the character for vehicle (車) to make the noun more explicit, meaning 'tank vehicle'. In Mandarin, 戰車 is a more formal or military-style way to refer to a tank, literally meaning 'war vehicle'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
坦克 and 鐵殼車 / 铁壳车 are Hokkien forms.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is thán-khek.
Did you know?
- The character 殼 in 鐵殼車 is also used to describe an eggshell or a snail's shell, emphasizing the tank's protective exterior.
- In ancient Chinese texts, 戰車 referred to horse-drawn chariots used in royal warfare long before the invention of the internal combustion engine.
- The character 坦 in 坦克 means 'smooth' or 'level' in other contexts, such as in the word for 'frank' or 'open'. This is purely a phonetic choice for the loanword and has no relation to the vehicle's physical properties.
Examples in context
- 坦克失蹤了。The tank vanished.Tatoeba #13858610 by LeviHighway, translation #11776129 by Amastan
- 按F進入坦克Press F to enter the tank (to start a relation with a fat girl)This sentence uses 坦克 in a gaming context.
- 我们在军事博物馆看到了一辆 坦克 。We saw a tank at the military museum.
- 这部电影里有一场激烈的 装甲车 战斗。There is an intense armored vehicle battle scene in this movie.
Example conversation
Wei and Jiayi are watching a military movie.
- 伟 Wei你看，那辆坦克好大！Nǐ kàn, nà liàng tǎnkè hǎo dà!Look, that tank is so big!
- 佳怡 Jiayi真的，它看起来很强大。Zhēnde, tā kàn qǐlái hěn qiángdà.True, it looks very powerful.
- 伟 Wei这种坦克能开得很快吗？Zhè zhǒng tǎnkè néng kāi de hěn kuài ma?Can this kind of tank drive fast?
- 佳怡 Jiayi我想它应该比卡车慢。Wǒ xiǎng tā yīnggāi bǐ kǎchē màn.I think it should be slower than a truck.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tank” translations and entries 坦克, 坦克, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR, Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
