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(chéng bǎo) - castle, fortress in Mandarin

chéngbǎo

Traditional: 城堡

#2054 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

castle, fortress

Word origin

A compound of 城 (chéng, city wall, walled town) and 堡 (bǎo, fort, stronghold), a walled stronghold.

Origin
compound
Root
城 (chéng, city wall) + 堡 (bǎo, fort)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 城

Stroke order for 堡

Examples

There is an old castle up on the hill.

We visited that castle yesterday.

bǎi

This castle is eight hundred years old.

The prince lives in the castle.

The castle gate is shut.

城堡 (chéng bǎo) is the European style castle: turrets, moat, drawbridge. It is the word used in fairy tales, in travel writing about Europe, and in games, and its measure word is 座, the one for large fixed structures.

Chinese fortifications get different words. A walled city is 城, the Great Wall is 长城, and an imperial palace complex is 宫 or 故宫. Calling the Forbidden City a 城堡 would sound like a translation error.

Note that 堡 has more than one reading. As bǎo it means fort, as in 城堡 and 碉堡, but in place names it is often read pù, and in the loanword 汉堡 (hamburger, also Hamburg) it stays bǎo. If you meet the character alone, check the word before you guess the tone.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

城堡: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "城堡" (castle, fortress): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 42.