Meaning of 官司
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- lawsuit
Measure word: 場|场
How to use 官司
官司 is the everyday spoken word for a lawsuit or legal case. It usually goes with the verb 打 (dǎ), so "to sue" or "to be in a lawsuit" is 打官司. Example: 他们为了房子打了两年官司。(Tāmen wèile fángzi dǎle liǎng nián guānsi.) They fought a lawsuit over the house for two years.
官 (guān) means an official, and 司 (sī) means to be in charge of something. A lawsuit is when you bring your problem to the officials in charge and let them decide.
Common mistake: Learners often say 做官司 or 有官司 when they mean "to sue", but the natural collocation is 打官司 (dǎ guānsi). Also, 司 is read in the neutral tone here (guānsi), unlike the full fourth-free sī in 公司 (gōngsī).
官司 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.
官 guān · government official · 8 strokes
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司 sī · to take charge of · 5 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 官司.
| 公司 | gōngsī | company; firm; corporation |
| 司机 | sījī | chauffeur; driver |
| 法官 | fǎguān | judge (in court) |
| 官方 | guānfāng | government; official (approved or issued by an authority) |
| 器官 | qìguān | (physiology) organ; apparatus |
| 外交官 | wàijiāoguān | diplomat |
| 寿司 | shòusī | sushi |
| 打官司 | dǎ guānsi | to file a lawsuit; to sue |
| 司长 | sīzhǎng | bureau chief |
| 警官 | jǐngguān | constable; police officer |
| 军官 | jūnguān | officer (military) |
| 官员 | guānyuán | official (in an organization or government); administrator |
Questions about 官司
What does 官司 mean?
官司 (guānsi) means "lawsuit" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 官司?
官司 is made of 2 characters: 官 (8 strokes), 司 (5 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 官司 an HSK word?
Yes. 官司 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 官司 and 诉讼?
官司 is the common spoken word that anyone uses in daily life. 诉讼 (sùsòng) is the formal legal term you see in laws, court documents and news reports.
Can 官司 be used for arguments that are not in court?
Yes, informally. 打嘴官司 (dǎ zuǐ guānsi) means to argue back and forth with words, like a pointless verbal dispute that never reaches a court.