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HSK 1

飞机

airplane

nounneutral
飞
fēi1st tone
机
jī1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
fēijī
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
9
Register
neutral
Measure word
架 / 班

Stroke order for 飞机

飞机 is written with 9 strokes (飞: 3, 机: 6). The animation replays automatically.

What does 飞机 mean?

飞机 (fēijī) is the everyday word for 'airplane,' literally 'flying machine.'

It covers commercial jets, private planes, and small aircraft; context (or compounds like 客机 'passenger plane' and 战斗机 'fighter jet') narrows the meaning. The verb pair learners need to memorize is 坐飞机 (zuò fēijī), 'travel by plane' — literally 'sit a plane,' the same 坐 used for buses and trains, not 飞 or 开.

The airport is 飞机场 (fēijīchǎng), more commonly shortened to 机场 (jīchǎng). The standard measure word is 架, used for most aircraft and large mechanical equipment.

Character by character

飞fēito fly
+
机jīmachine; device
=
飞机

Memory hook: 飞 (fly) + 机 (machine) = flying machine. Same 机 appears in 手机 (phone) and 电脑 → 机 broadly means 'machine/device.'

Example sentences

我明天坐飞机去北京。

Wǒ míngtiān zuò fēijī qù Běijīng.

I'm flying to Beijing tomorrow.

spoken

飞机几点起飞？

Fēijī jǐ diǎn qǐfēi?

What time does the plane take off?

neutral

他没坐过飞机。

Tā méi zuò guo fēijī.

He has never been on a plane.

spoken

飞机票很贵。

Fēijī piào hěn guì.

Plane tickets are expensive.

neutral

Common phrases with 飞机

坐飞机zuò fēijītravel by plane (lit. 'sit a plane')
飞机票fēijī piàoplane ticket
飞机场fēijīchǎngairport
上飞机shàng fēijīboard the plane
下飞机xià fēijīget off the plane

Synonyms

客机kèjī

客机 specifically means 'passenger plane' (客 = passenger). Use 客机 in news or aviation contexts; 飞机 is the everyday word that covers all aircraft.

Don't confuse 飞机 with

手机shǒujī

Both contain 机 ('machine'), but 手机 (hand-machine) is a cell phone. 飞机 (flying-machine) is an airplane. 机 is a productive suffix meaning 'machine.'

机场jīchǎng

机场 is the airport (the place). 飞机 is the airplane (the vehicle). You take a 飞机 from a 机场.

FAQ

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