(píng guǒ) - apple in Mandarin
píngguǒTraditional: 蘋果
Translation
apple
Word origin
苹 (píng) comes from 频婆 (pínpó), an old transcription of a Sanskrit fruit name, later fitted with the grass radical; 果 (guǒ) simply means fruit. So an apple is the pingpo fruit.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 苹 (píng, from Sanskrit via 频婆) + 果 (guǒ, fruit)
Stroke order
苹
果
Examples
。
I eat an apple every day.
。
These apples are red and sweet.
捡。
She picked up an apple under the tree.
斤。
Please give me half a kilo of apples.
。
Mum made an apple cake.
苹果 (píng guǒ) is an apple. It takes 个 as its measure word, it is sold by weight rather than by the piece, and it is one of the first concrete nouns most learners can actually use in a shop.
The second character 果 is the general word for fruit and shows up all over the food vocabulary: 水果 for fruit in general, 果汁 for juice, 苹果汁 for apple juice. Learning 苹果 buys you a small family of words at once.
The trap is a modern one. 苹果 is also the tech company, so 苹果手机 is an iPhone and not a piece of fruit with a keypad. Context sorts it out instantly, but if you are searching for recipes it is worth adding a word. The other snag is the first tone pair: píng guǒ is second then third, and flattening the 果 to a first tone is the commonest mispronunciation.
Where this fits
Used in
Grammar articles
(5)Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
Chinese Measure Words (Mandarin Classifiers): The Core Dozen, Which One Your Noun Takes, and the Safe Default
Mandarin Verb-Object Verbs: Why 'To Eat' Is 吃饭 and How It Splits Apart
Mandarin Sentence Structure: Word Order, Topic-Comment and the 把 Construction
又 (yòu) vs 再 (zài) vs 还 (hái) in Mandarin: The Three Ways to Say 'Again'
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苹果: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "苹果" (apple): 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 60.