气球

• Pinyin: qì qiú
• Hanzi breakdown: 气 = rising vapour — air or gas; 球 = 王 (jade) + 求 (seek) — a spherical object

Meaning

Balloon. A flexible bag filled with air or gas, used as a toy, decoration, or for scientific purposes.

Refers to both toy balloons (吹气球 — blow up a balloon) and larger balloons (热气球 — hot-air balloon). Commonly associated with celebrations, parties, and children's play. The character breakdown is intuitive: 气 (air/gas) + 球 (ball) = air ball. A concrete, everyday vocabulary word.

Examples

1. 孩子们在公园里玩气球，玩得很开心。 The children were playing with balloons in the park and having a great time.
2. 生日派对上挂满了各种颜色的气球。 The birthday party was decorated with balloons of every colour.
3. 他帮小朋友吹了一个红色的气球。 He blew up a red balloon for the little child.

Usage Guide

Context: celebrations, children, everyday

Tone: cheerful

Do Say

• 我们买一些气球装饰教室吧。(Let's buy some balloons to decorate the classroom.)
• 他坐了一次热气球，觉得很刺激。(He rode a hot-air balloon once and found it thrilling.)

Don't Say

• 气球球 as a cute reduplicated form (There is no reduplicated form 气球球 in standard Chinese — just say 气球; for cuteness, add 小 as in 小气球)

Origin & History

A compound of 气 (air/gas) and 球 (ball/sphere) — literally an air ball; a ball-shaped object filled with air or gas.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal