TraceHanzi

原料 meaning in English

yuánliào

raw material

HSK 4noun20 strokes

Meaning of 原料

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

yuánliào
  1. raw material

How to use 原料

原料 is used for unprocessed or basic materials in factories, farming, and cooking. It often appears with words like 生产 (shēngchǎn, production) or 进口 (jìnkǒu, import). Example: 这家工厂的原料都是进口的。(Zhè jiā gōngchǎng de yuánliào dōu shì jìnkǒu de.) All of this factory's raw materials are imported.

原 (yuán) means original or source, and 料 (liào) means material or stuff. Put them together and you get the original stuff that things are made from: raw material.

Common mistake: Learners often use 原料 and 材料 (cáiliào) interchangeably. 原料 is the unprocessed starting input, like crude oil or cotton. 材料 is broader and also covers processed building materials, documents, or data for a report, so say 学习材料 for study materials, not 学习原料.

原料 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

日rì本běn从cóng国guó外wài进jìn口kǒu各gè种zhǒng原yuán料liào。
Japan imports various raw materials from abroad.
日rì本běn依yī赖lài进jìn口kǒu原yuán料liào。
Japan depends on imports for raw materials.
塑sù料liào代dài替tì了le许xǔ多duō传chuán统tǒng的de原yuán料liào。
Plastics have taken the place of many conventional materials.
这zhè座zuò巧qiǎo克kè力lì工gōng厂chǎng每měi一yī天tiān消xiāo耗hào二èr十shí公gōng吨dūn可kě可kě原yuán料liào。
This chocolate factory consumes twenty metric tons of raw cocoa per day.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

原 yuán · former · 10 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
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  9. 9
  10. 10

料 liào · material · 10 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
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  5. 5
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  9. 9
  10. 10

Related words

Words that share a character with 原料.

原因yuányīncause; origin
原来yuánláioriginal; former; originally; formerly; at first
资料zīliàomaterial; resources
材料cáiliào(raw) material; data
原则yuánzéprinciple; doctrine
燃料ránliàofuel
塑料sùliàoplastic; plastics (general term for synthetic polymer materials)
塑料袋sùliàodàiplastic bag
饮料yǐnliàodrink; beverage
原始yuánshǐfirst; original
草原cǎoyuángrassland; prairie
原理yuánlǐprinciple; theory

Questions about 原料

What does 原料 mean?

原料 (yuánliào) means "raw material" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 原料?

原料 is made of 2 characters: 原 (10 strokes), 料 (10 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.

Is 原料 an HSK word?

Yes. 原料 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

Can 原料 be used for cooking ingredients?

Yes. 原料 can mean the basic ingredients of a dish, especially in recipes or food production. In everyday talk, people also say 食材 (shícái) for food ingredients.

What is the difference between 原料 and 燃料?

Both end in 料, but 燃 (rán) means to burn. 燃料 (ránliào) is fuel that is burned for energy, while 原料 is material that is turned into a product.

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