Meaning of 足球
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- soccer; football
- a soccer ball; a football
How to use 足球
足球 can mean the sport or the ball itself. To say you play it, use the verb 踢 (tī, to kick), as in 我周末踢足球。(Wǒ zhōumò tī zúqiú.) I play soccer on weekends. To say you watch a match, use 看足球 (kàn zúqiú).
足球 is literally "foot ball": 足 (zú) means foot and 球 (qiú) means ball. It is the ball game you play with your feet.
Common mistake: Learners often say 打足球 by analogy with 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) or 打网球 (dǎ wǎngqiú), but soccer takes 踢 (tī), so say 踢足球. Also keep both syllables rising tone: zú and qiú are both second tone.
足球 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.
足 zú · foot · 7 strokes
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- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 7
球 qiú · ball · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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- 7
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- 9
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- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 足球.
| 打球 | dǎ qiú | to play a ball sport |
| 地球 | dìqiú | the earth |
| 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 |
| 排球 | páiqiú | volleyball |
| 球鞋 | qiúxié | athletic shoes |
| 足够 | zúgòu | enough; sufficient |
| 满足 | mǎnzú | to satisfy; to meet (the needs of) |
| 全球 | quánqiú | the whole world; worldwide; global |
| 球迷 | qiúmí | fan (ball sports) |
Questions about 足球
What does 足球 mean?
足球 (zúqiú) means "soccer; football; a soccer ball; a football" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 足球?
足球 is made of 2 characters: 足 (7 strokes), 球 (11 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 足球 an HSK word?
Yes. 足球 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 足球 mean American football?
No. 足球 means soccer, which most of the world calls football. American football is 美式足球 (Měishì zúqiú), or 橄榄球 (gǎnlǎnqiú), which also covers rugby.
How do I say soccer player or soccer team?
A soccer player is 足球运动员 (zúqiú yùndòngyuán), or casually 球员 (qiúyuán). A soccer team is 足球队 (zúqiú duì), built from 球队 (qiúduì).