Meaning of 报警
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to sound an alarm
- to report sth to the police
How to use 报警
报警 is the everyday verb for calling the police. It can also describe a device sounding an alarm. Example: 快报警，有人偷了我的钱包。(Kuài bàojǐng, yǒu rén tōu le wǒ de qiánbāo.) Call the police quickly, someone stole my wallet.
报 (bào) means to report, as in 报告 (bàogào), and 警 (jǐng) means alarm or police, as in 警察 (jǐngchá). Put them together and you "report to the police" or "report an alarm."
Common mistake: Learners often say 报警警察, but 报警 already includes the police, so just say 我要报警 (wǒ yào bàojǐng). Also keep both tones falling then dipping: bào is fourth tone and jǐng is third tone.
报警 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.
报 bào · to report · 7 strokes
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警 jǐng · to guard · 19 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 报警.
| 报纸 | bàozhǐ | newspaper; newsprint |
| 报名 | bàomíng | to sign up; to enter one's name |
| 日报 | rìbào | daily newspaper |
| 晚报 | wǎnbào | evening newspaper; (in a newspaper's name) Evening News |
| 警察 | jǐngchá | police; police officer |
| 报告 | bàogào | to inform; to report |
| 报道 | bàodào | to report (news); report |
| 报到 | bàodào | to report for duty; to check in |
| 交警 | jiāojǐng | traffic police (abbr. for 交通警察[jiao1 tong1 jing3 cha2]) |
| 预报 | yùbào | forecast |
| 汇报 | huìbào | to report; to give an account of |
| 警告 | jǐnggào | to warn; to admonish |
Questions about 报警
What does 报警 mean?
报警 (bàojǐng) means "to sound an alarm; to report sth to the police".
How do you write 报警?
报警 is made of 2 characters: 报 (7 strokes), 警 (19 strokes). That is 26 strokes in total.
Is 报警 an HSK word?
Yes. 报警 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 报警 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 报警 is written 報警.
Can 报警 take an object directly?
Not usually. 报警 is a verb plus object combination, so you don't add another object after it. To say what you are reporting, use a separate clause, as in 我报警了，说有人打架 (wǒ bàojǐng le, shuō yǒu rén dǎjià), I called the police and said people were fighting.
Is 报警 used for machines and alarms too?
Yes. A smoke detector or car system can 报警, meaning it gives off a warning signal. The context tells you whether a person is calling the police or a device is sounding an alarm.