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(shāng diàn) - shop, store in Mandarin

shāngdiàn

Traditional: 商店

#2683 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

shop, store

Word origin

A compound of 商 (shāng, trade, commerce) and 店 (diàn, shop, inn), a place of trade.

Origin
compound
Root
商 (shāng, trade) + 店 (diàn, shop)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 商

Stroke order for 店

Examples

There is a small shop on the street corner.

jiǔ

The shop opens at nine.

I am going to the shop to buy a few things.

The fruit in this shop is very fresh.

Many shops are shut on Sundays.

商店 (shāng diàn) is the general word for a shop: a premises that sells goods to the public. It is neutral and slightly formal, the word a textbook or a sign uses.

The measure word is 家, as with most businesses: 一家商店, 那家商店. Learners who reach for 个 are understood but marked out immediately.

The trap is over-using it. In real speech Chinese people usually name the specific kind of shop rather than saying 商店: 超市 for a supermarket, 书店 for a bookshop, 便利店 for a corner shop, 花店 for a florist. Notice that 店 does the work in all of them. So 我去商店 is correct but a little vague, rather like announcing that you are going to a retail premises. Say where you are actually going and you sound far more natural.

Where this fits

Used in

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Mandarin · Free printables

商店: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "商店" (shop, store): 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.