Meaning of 城市
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- city; town
Measure word: 座
How to use 城市
城市 is the general word for a city and is used in both speech and writing. It often appears in phrases like 大城市 (dà chéngshì, big city) and 城市生活 (chéngshì shēnghuó, city life). Example: 上海是一个很大的城市。(Shànghǎi shì yí ge hěn dà de chéngshì.) Shanghai is a very big city.
城 (chéng) means a city wall, and 市 (shì) means a market. Picture a wall around a busy market and you have a city.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 市 (shì) with 巿 (fú), which looks almost the same. In 市 the top is a dot plus a horizontal stroke, and the vertical stroke does not pass through it. Also keep 城 in the second tone (chéng), not the fourth.
城市 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.
城 chéng · city walls · 9 strokes
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- 2
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- 4
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- 9
市 shì · market · 5 strokes
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- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 城市.
| 市长 | shìzhǎng | mayor |
| 超市 | chāoshì | supermarket (abbr. for 超級市場|超级市场[chao1 ji2 shi4 chang3]) |
| 市场 | shìchǎng | marketplace; market; bazaar; (economics) market |
| 长城 | Chángchéng | the Great Wall |
| 市区 | shìqū | urban district; downtown |
| 城里 | chénglǐ | |
| 市民 | shìmín | city resident; townspeople |
| 城镇 | chéngzhèn | town; cities and towns |
| 都市 | dūshì | city; metropolis |
| 上市 | shàngshì | to hit the market (of a new product); to float (a company on the stock market) |
| 城区 | chéngqū | city district; urban area |
| 城乡 | chéng xiāng | city and countryside |
Questions about 城市
What does 城市 mean?
城市 (chéngshì) means "city; town" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 城市?
城市 is made of 2 characters: 城 (9 strokes), 市 (5 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 城市 an HSK word?
Yes. 城市 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 城市 and 城里?
城市 (chéngshì) is a noun meaning a city in general. 城里 (chénglǐ) means inside the city or in town, and it is used to describe location, as in 我住在城里 (wǒ zhù zài chénglǐ), I live in town.
How do you say the name of a specific city, like Beijing City?
For a specific city, Chinese usually uses 市 (shì) after the name, not 城市. For example, 北京市 (Běijīng Shì) means Beijing City. 城市 is used for cities in general.