Kilo Lingo

(quán qiú) - global, worldwide; the whole world in Mandarin

quánqiú

Traditional: 全球

#2676 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

global, worldwide; the whole world

Word origin

A compound of 全 (quán, whole, entire) and 球 (qiú, ball, globe), the whole globe.

Origin
compound
Root
全 (quán, whole) + 球 (qiú, globe)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 全

Stroke order for 球

Examples

This company has eighty offices worldwide.

Global temperatures are still rising.

This film is popular all over the world.

They want to take the business global.

亿

There are more than seven billion people in the world.

全球 (quán qiú) means the whole planet, and it does the work that global does in English headlines: 全球经济, the global economy; 全球变暖, global warming; 全球市场, the world market.

It behaves as a noun, so it takes 在 when you want a location: 在全球, worldwide. Stuck straight in front of another noun it modifies it directly, and no 的 is needed.

The trap is the overlap with 世界. Both translate as world, but 全球 leans towards the physical planet and towards business, climate and statistics, while 世界 covers the human world of people, cultures and experience. 世界和平 is world peace and 全球和平 is not idiomatic. Conversely 全球排名 is a global ranking, and 世界排名 also exists but sounds sportier. When in doubt, 世界 is the safer everyday word.

Where this fits

Used in

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Mandarin · Free printables

全球: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "全球" (global, worldwide; the whole world): 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 54.