(míng xìn piàn) - postcard in Mandarin
míngxìnpiànTraditional: 明信片
Translation
postcard
Stroke order
明
信
片
Examples
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I sent you a postcard from Paris.
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She collects postcards from all over the world.
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This postcard has a photo of the Great Wall on it.
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Postcards are sold outside the post office.
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I wrote postcards to my family while I was travelling.
明信片 (míngxìnpiàn) is the postcard. 明 (míng) means "open, clear", 信 (xìn) means "letter" and 片 (piàn) means "a flat piece, a slip", so together the word points at a letter that travels open, with no envelope, exactly what a postcard is.
The natural verb to pair it with is 寄 (jì), "to send by post": 寄明信片 (jì míngxìnpiàn), "to send a postcard". A single postcard is counted with 张 (zhāng), the measure word for flat sheet-like objects, so "a postcard" is 一张明信片 (yì zhāng míngxìnpiàn), the same measure word used for paper, tickets and photos.
They are closely tied to travel: 旅行时写明信片 (lǚxíng shí xiě míngxìnpiàn), "write postcards while travelling", is a very natural sentence to build a story around, and 邮局 (yóujú), "post office", is usually where you buy the stamp to send one.
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明信片: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "明信片" (postcard): 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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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 109.