出租汽車 / 出租汽车
chūzū qìchēChina
In Mandarin, the word for taxi is 出租汽車 / 出租汽车 (chūzū qìchē). If unsure, use 出租汽車 / 出租汽车. Wiktionary also lists 的士 (dīshì) and 出租車 / 出租车 (chūzūchē).
Meaning: vehicle available for public hire (noun)
Ways to say it
| Mandarin | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 出租汽車 / 出租汽车 | chūzū qìchē | China |
| 的士 | dīshì | |
| 出租車 / 出租车 | chūzūchē | China |
| 計程車 / 计程车 | jìchéngchē | Taiwan |
| 德士 | déshì | Malaysia, Singapore |
The word refers to a vehicle available for public hire. You may also encounter the verb-object construction 打的 (dǎ dí), which is a common way to say 'to take a taxi' in many regions.
What does it mean word for word?
In the form 出租汽車 / 出租汽车, the part chūzū literally means 'to rent out' or 'to lease'.
Which one should you use?
出租車 / 出租车 (chūzūchē) is a more common and slightly more colloquial way to say 出租汽車 / 出租汽车 (chūzū qìchē) in mainland China. The term 計程車 / 计程车 (jìchéngchē) literally means 'metered car'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Taiwan, the standard term is 計程車 / 计程车. The term 的士 is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau and nearby regions. In Malaysia and Singapore, the phonetic loanword 德士 is used.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
chūzū qìchē
Did you know?
- The colloquial phrase 打的 (dǎ dí) for 'taking a taxi' uses the character 的 as a shorthand for the English word 'taxi'.
Examples in context
- 她在百貨公司門前下了的士。She got out of the taxi at the department store.This sentence shows how to use 的士 to describe exiting a taxi.Tatoeba #348180 by nickyeow, translation #311654 by CK
- 喂，我要一辆的士，现在就到华山路200弄40号门口。Hi, I need a taxi to come to the entrance of No.40, Lane 200, Huashan Road right now.This sentence demonstrates how to use 的士 when requesting a taxi to a specific location.Tatoeba #420624 by sysko, translation #13911407 by jan_OkulaJu
Sources
- Wiktionary, “taxi” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 的士, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
