Meaning of 气球
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- balloon
How to use 气球
气球 is the everyday word for a party or toy balloon, and it is also used for hot air balloons as 热气球 (rèqìqiú). The usual measure word is 个 (gè). Example: 孩子手里拿着一个红气球。(Háizi shǒu lǐ názhe yí gè hóng qìqiú.) The child is holding a red balloon.
A balloon is just a ball 球 (qiú) filled with air 气 (qì). Picture blowing 气 into a 球 until it floats.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 气球 (qìqiú, balloon) and 地球 (dìqiú, the earth), since both end in 球. Also keep the fourth tone on 气 (qì) so it does not sound like 七 (qī) or 骑 (qí).
气球 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.
气 qì · gas · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
球 qiú · ball · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 气球.
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather |
| 打球 | dǎ qiú | to play a ball sport |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
| 地球 | dìqiú | the earth |
| 空气 | kōngqì | air; atmosphere |
| 球队 | qiúduì | sports team (basketball, soccer, football etc) |
| 球场 | qiúchǎng | stadium; sports ground |
| 篮球 | lánqiú | basketball |
| 网球 | wǎngqiú | tennis; tennis ball |
| 气温 | qìwēn | air temperature |
| 排球 | páiqiú | volleyball |
Questions about 气球
What does 气球 mean?
气球 (qìqiú) means "balloon" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 气球?
气球 is made of 2 characters: 气 (4 strokes), 球 (11 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 气球 an HSK word?
Yes. 气球 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 气球 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 气球 is written 氣球.
How do you say to blow up a balloon in Chinese?
Say 吹气球 (chuī qìqiú), where 吹 means to blow. To pop a balloon, you can say 气球爆了 (qìqiú bào le), the balloon popped.
Can 气球 be used figuratively?
Yes. 气球 sometimes describes something that swells and could burst, as in 经济泡沫像气球一样 (the economic bubble is like a balloon). In daily speech, though, it almost always means a real balloon.