Meaning of 倒车
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to change buses, trains etc
- to reverse (a vehicle)
- to drive backwards
How to use 倒车
Read as dǎochē, it means to change buses or trains during a trip. Read as dàochē, it means to reverse a car. Example: 我们要在北京倒车。(Wǒmen yào zài Běijīng dǎochē.) We have to change trains in Beijing.
倒 means to topple or turn over, and 车 (chē) is a vehicle. Picture your trip being turned over from one vehicle to another, or a car turning its direction around to go backwards.
Common mistake: Learners often use one tone for both meanings. Use third tone dǎo for changing vehicles and fourth tone dào for backing up, since the tone is what tells listeners which meaning you intend.
倒车 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.
倒 dǎo · to fall · 10 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 10
车 chē · car · 4 strokes
- 1
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- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 倒车.
| 开车 | kāichē | to drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual jok |
| 火车 | huǒchē | train |
| 上车 | shàng chē | to get on or into (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 汽车 | qìchē | car; automobile |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 车上 | chē shang | |
| 车站 | chēzhàn | rail station; bus stop |
| 车票 | chēpiào | ticket for a bus or train |
| 打车 | dǎchē | to take a taxi (in town); to hitch a lift |
| 停车 | tíngchē | to pull up (stop one's vehicle); to park |
| 出租车 | chūzūchē | taxi; (Tw) rental car |
| 自行车 | zìxíngchē | bicycle; bike |
Questions about 倒车
What does 倒车 mean?
倒车 (dǎochē) means "to change buses, trains etc".
How do you write 倒车?
倒车 is made of 2 characters: 倒 (10 strokes), 车 (4 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 倒车 an HSK word?
Yes. 倒车 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 倒车 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 倒车 is written 倒車.
How do I say I am reversing the car in a sentence?
Say 我在倒车 (wǒ zài dàochē), I am backing up. You often hear the warning 倒车，请注意 (dàochē, qǐng zhùyì), Vehicle reversing, please watch out, from trucks.
Is 倒车 the same as 换车 (huànchē)?
In the transfer sense, yes. 换车 (huànchē) also means to change vehicles and is common in everyday speech. 倒车 (dǎochē) sounds a bit more colloquial, especially in northern China.