Meaning of 中国
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- China
How to use 中国
中国 is the everyday name for China, used for the country, its people, and things from there. Put it before a noun to describe something Chinese, as in 中国菜 (Zhōngguó cài) Chinese food. Example: 我想去中国。(Wǒ xiǎng qù Zhōngguó.) I want to go to China.
中 (zhōng) means middle, and its shape is a line passing straight through the center of a box. 国 (guó) means country, drawn as a border 囗 surrounding 玉 (jade), so 中国 is the "middle country."
Common mistake: Learners often say "zhòng" with a fourth tone, but in 中国 it is first tone zhōng and second tone guó. Also do not write 国 as 玉 alone or 王 inside the box; the jade inside has a small dot.
中国 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
中 zhōng · within · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
国 guó · country · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 中国.
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
| 中间 | zhōngjiān | the middle; the inside; in the middle; within; between; among |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | noon; midday |
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign country |
| 中学 | zhōngxué | middle school |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 中文 | Zhōngwén | Chinese language |
| 中学生 | zhōngxuéshēng | middle-school student; high school student |
| 其中 | qízhōng | among; in |
| 中心 | zhōngxīn | center; heart; core |
| 高中 | gāozhōng | senior high school (abbr. for 高級中學|高级中学[gao1 ji2 zhong1 xue2]) |
| 心中 | xīnzhōng | central point; in one's thoughts |
Questions about 中国
What does 中国 mean?
中国 (Zhōngguó) means "China" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 中国?
中国 is made of 2 characters: 中 (4 strokes), 国 (8 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 中国 an HSK word?
Yes. 中国 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 中国 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 中国 is written 中國.
How do you say Chinese person or Chinese language using 中国?
A Chinese person is 中国人 (Zhōngguó rén). For the language, people usually say 中文 (Zhōngwén) or 汉语 (Hànyǔ), not 中国语.
What is the full official name of China in Chinese?
The full name is 中华人民共和国 (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó), the People's Republic of China. In daily speech people just say 中国.