Meaning of 煤气
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- coal gas
- gas (fuel)
How to use 煤气
In everyday speech 煤气 refers to household cooking gas, the fuel for a stove or water heater, even when it is not literally made from coal. Example: 出门前记得关煤气。(Chūmén qián jìde guān méiqì.) Remember to turn off the gas before you go out.
煤 (méi) means coal, and you can spot the fire radical 火 on its left side. Add 气 (qì), meaning gas or air, and you get the gas that burns like coal: 煤气.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 煤 (méi, coal) with 媒 (méi, medium), as in 媒体 (méitǐ, media). They sound the same, but coal has the fire radical 火 and media has the woman radical 女.
煤气 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.
煤 méi · coal · 13 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 9
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- 13
气 qì · gas · 4 strokes
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- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 煤气.
| 生气 | shēngqì | to get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness |
| 天气 | tiānqì | weather |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
| 空气 | kōngqì | air; atmosphere |
| 气温 | qìwēn | air temperature |
| 气候 | qìhòu | (meteorology) climate; (fig.) climate; prevailing conditions (in human affairs) |
| 运气 | yùnqi | luck (good or bad) |
| 勇气 | yǒngqì | courage |
| 力气 | lìqi | physical strength |
| 气球 | qìqiú | balloon |
| 暖气 | nuǎnqì | central heating; heater |
| 客气 | kèqi | polite; courteous |
Questions about 煤气
What does 煤气 mean?
煤气 (méiqì) means "coal gas; gas (fuel)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 煤气?
煤气 is made of 2 characters: 煤 (13 strokes), 气 (4 strokes). That is 17 strokes in total.
Is 煤气 an HSK word?
Yes. 煤气 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 煤气 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 煤气 is written 煤氣.
What is the difference between 煤气 and 天然气?
天然气 (tiānránqì) is natural gas, while 煤气 originally meant coal gas. Many people still say 煤气 loosely for any household cooking gas, but 天然气 is the more precise term when the fuel is natural gas.
How do you say gas leak or gas poisoning in Chinese?
A gas leak is 煤气泄漏 (méiqì xièlòu). Gas poisoning, usually carbon monoxide, is 煤气中毒 (méiqì zhòngdú), a common phrase in safety warnings.