Meaning of 房子
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- house
- building (single- or two-story)
- apartment
- room
Measure word: 棟|栋,幢,座,套,間|间
How to use 房子
房子 is the everyday word for a house or a flat you live in, and it often comes up when talking about buying or renting a home. It uses the measure word 套 (tào) or 个 (gè), and 栋 (dòng) for a whole building. Example: 他们买了一套新房子。(Tāmen mǎi le yí tào xīn fángzi.) They bought a new home.
房 (fáng) has 户 (hù), a door, on top, so think of a place you enter through a door. Add the noun suffix 子 (zi) and you get 房子, a house or home.
Common mistake: Learners often use 房子 when they mean a single room, but in modern Mandarin a room inside a home is usually 房间 (fángjiān). Also keep 子 neutral and light: say fángzi, not fáng zǐ.
房子 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.
房 fáng · building · 8 strokes
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子 zi · noun suffix · 3 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 房子.
Questions about 房子
What does 房子 mean?
房子 (fángzi) means "house; building (single- or two-story)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 房子?
房子 is made of 2 characters: 房 (8 strokes), 子 (3 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 房子 an HSK word?
Yes. 房子 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 房子 and 家 (jiā)?
房子 is the physical building or apartment. 家 is home or family, the place where you belong. You say 我回家 (wǒ huí jiā), not 我回房子, when you mean going home.
How do you say rent a house or buy a house with 房子?
Use 租房子 (zū fángzi) for renting and 买房子 (mǎi fángzi) for buying. In casual speech people often shorten these to 租房 and 买房.