报纸
newspaper
bàozhǐ
What does 报纸 mean?
报纸 (bàozhǐ) is the standard word for 'newspaper' — the physical paper publication you'd buy at a kiosk or read over breakfast. The first character 报 carries the core meaning of 'report / news'; 纸 simply means 'paper,' so the compound is literally 'news-paper' — almost a calque of English. In modern Chinese the word still refers chiefly to print papers; for online news, speakers reach for 新闻 (xīnwén, 'news') or 网站 (wǎngzhàn, 'website'). The measure word matters: one copy is 一份报纸 (yí fèn bàozhǐ); a single sheet pulled out of one is 一张报纸 (yì zhāng bàozhǐ). Common verbs used with 报纸 include 看 ('to read/look at'), 买 ('to buy'), 送 ('to deliver'), and 订 ('to subscribe'). Note that the 报 in 报纸 also appears in many news-related compounds: 日报 (daily paper), 晚报 (evening paper), 报道 (a news report), 报告 (a formal report).
Character breakdown
to report; news; announcement
paper
Memory hook: 报 (report) + 纸 (paper) = news on paper. Almost the same construction as English 'newspaper.'
Measure word for 报纸
Example sentences
爸爸每天早上看报纸。
Bàba měi tiān zǎoshang kàn bàozhǐ.
Dad reads the newspaper every morning.
neutral
我想买一份报纸。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi yí fèn bàozhǐ.
I'd like to buy a newspaper.
spoken
今天的报纸在哪儿？
Jīntiān de bàozhǐ zài nǎr?
Where is today's newspaper?
spoken
现在很少有人看报纸了。
Xiànzài hěn shǎo yǒu rén kàn bàozhǐ le.
Few people read newspapers anymore.
neutral
这件事报纸上写了。
Zhè jiàn shì bàozhǐ shàng xiě le.
This was written about in the newspaper.
neutral
Common phrases with 报纸
Synonyms
报 alone can mean 'newspaper' in compounds and titles (《人民日报》 'People's Daily'), but standalone it usually means 'to report' or appears as part of a name. Use 报纸 when you mean a physical newspaper as a thing.
新闻 means 'news' in general — TV news, online news, the abstract concept. 报纸 is specifically the printed paper. Watching the news is 看新闻; reading a paper is 看报纸.
Don't confuse 报纸 with
杂志 is 'magazine' — glossy, monthly, themed. 报纸 is the daily/weekly newsprint paper. Different format, different word.
报告 is a 'report' — a formal document or presentation (做报告 'give a report'). 报纸 is a 'newspaper.' They share the character 报 but mean different things.
纸 by itself just means 'paper' — any paper. 报纸 is specifically newspaper. Asking for 纸 gets you blank paper; asking for 报纸 gets you the news.