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HSK 1

出租车

taxi

nounneutral
chū1st tone
1st tone
chē1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
chūzūchē
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
19
Register
neutral
Measure word

Stroke order for 出租车

出租车 is written with 19 strokes (: 5, : 10, : 4). The animation replays automatically.

What does 出租车 mean?

出租车 (chūzūchē) is the standard Mandarin word for a taxi — literally 'rent-out vehicle.'

It's the term you'll see on signs, in textbooks, and in Mainland news. In daily Beijing speech, locals more often say 打车 (dǎ chē, 'grab a cab') for the action and 的士 (dīshì, from Cantonese/English) for the vehicle.

In Taiwan, the same thing is usually called 計程車 (jìchéngchē, 'metered car'). Two things to know: first, since Didi (滴滴) took over in the mid-2010s, most people in China hail rides through an app and may say 网约车 (wǎngyuēchē, 'online-booked car') for ride-share, reserving 出租车 for traditional metered cabs; second, 出租车 is three syllables — learners often shorten it to 出租 in casual speech, but the full word is standard in writing.

Character by character

chūto go out; out
+
to rent; rent
+
chēvehicle; car
=
出租车

Memory hook: 出 + 租 + 车 = 'out-rent-car,' a car you rent and ride out in — a taxi.

Example sentences

我们坐出租车去机场。

Wǒmen zuò chūzūchē qù jīchǎng.

We're taking a taxi to the airport.

neutral

请帮我叫一辆出租车。

Qǐng bāng wǒ jiào yī liàng chūzūchē.

Please help me call a taxi.

polite

出租车在哪儿?

Chūzūchē zài nǎr?

Where's the taxi?

spoken

出租车司机很好。

Chūzūchē sījī hěn hǎo.

The taxi driver is very nice.

neutral

Common phrases with 出租车

叫出租车jiào chūzūchēto call a taxi
坐出租车zuò chūzūchēto take a taxi
打出租车dǎ chūzūchēto catch a taxi
出租车司机chūzūchē sījītaxi driver
一辆出租车yī liàng chūzūchēone taxi

Synonyms

的士dīshì

Borrowed from the English 'taxi' through Cantonese. Common in Hong Kong, Guangdong, and increasingly in casual Mainland speech. 出租车 is more standard/written; 的士 is colloquial.

打车dǎ chē

打车 is the VERB 'to catch a cab,' not the vehicle. 'I'm catching a taxi' = 我打车; 'a taxi is over there' = 出租车在那儿.

Don't confuse 出租车 with

公共汽车gōnggòng qìchē

公共汽车 means 'bus' (public-shared vehicle). Both are forms of transit, but a 出租车 is rented for one party while a 公共汽车 follows a fixed route with many passengers.

汽车qìchē

汽车 is the general word for 'car / automobile.' A 出租车 is a kind of 汽车, but not all 汽车 are taxis.

FAQ

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