城

• 拼音: chéng
• 汉字拆解: 城 = 土 (earth) + 成 (to complete, phonetic), originally meaning an earthen defensive wall around a city

含义

City; city wall; town. Originally referring to a walled city, now commonly used to mean city or urban area.

Appears frequently in compounds: 城市 (city), 城墙 (city wall), 进城 (to go into the city), 城里 (in the city), and 老城 (old town). Can function independently to refer to a city or town, especially in colloquial speech like 进城 (to go to town).

例句

1. 周末我们一家人进城去逛商场。
2. 这座老城有几百年的历史了。
3. 城里的生活节奏比农村快得多。

用法指南

语境: everyday, travel, geography

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 明天我要进城买点东西。(I'm going into the city tomorrow to buy some things.)
• 这座古城非常值得参观。(This ancient city is well worth visiting.)

错误说法

• 一个很大的城 (Avoid using 城 alone to describe a big city in formal writing — say 一座很大的城市; 城 alone is more colloquial)

起源与历史

Composed of 土 (earth) and 成 (to accomplish, phonetic), originally depicting an earthen wall built around a settlement for defence.

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal