(jiàn zhù) - building, architecture in Mandarin

jiànzhù

Traditional: 建築

HSK 5
#2,597 of 2,700Core 5000

Translation

building, architecture

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Word origin

A compound of 建 (jiàn, to erect, to establish) and 筑 (zhù, to build by ramming earth), the second character carrying 竹 for the bamboo frames used to hold rammed-earth walls.

Origin
compound
Root
建 (jiàn, to erect) + 筑 (zhù, to build)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 建

建

Stroke order for 筑

筑

Examples

。

This building is more than a hundred years old.

。

What he studies is architecture.

。

The old buildings in the city are all protected now.

。

This company is in the building trade.

。

Beijing has many famous buildings.

建筑 (jiàn zhù) is a building as a structure, and also building and architecture as fields. 这座建筑 is that building over there, 建筑工人 is a construction worker, 建筑师 is an architect and 建筑学 is architecture as a university subject. Its measure word is 座, the one used for large fixed things.

Beside it sits 建 as a bare verb, to build, and 建立 for establishing something abstract such as a relationship or a system. 建筑 can also work as a verb meaning to construct, though in ordinary speech 盖 or 建 is far more natural for putting up a house.

The trap is that English building is a much humbler word than 建筑. A shed, a corner shop and a bungalow are 房子 or 楼, not 建筑; the Chinese word leans towards something substantial or architecturally notable. Calling your flat 一座建筑 sounds grand in a way you probably did not intend.

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Mandarin · Free printables

建筑: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "建筑" (building, architecture): 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 taught in chapter 28, lesson 11: 建筑, 手臂, 皮肤 and 7 more words.