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城chéngcity

HSK 4word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

城 (chéng) means "city" or "town," and also "city walls." In everyday speech it names a city or the built-up part of a place, as in 城里 (in the city) and 进城 (go into town). A small town is 一座小城, using the measure word 座.

What does 城 mean?

  1. 1.

    citynoun

  2. 2.

    townnoun

  3. 3.

    city wallsnoun

What does the character 城 mean?

  • 城city

How do you use 城?

城 often appears in 城里 and 进城; use 座 to count cities and towns.

Patterns

  • 进 + 城

    你明天进城吗？

    Nǐ míngtiān jìn chéng ma?

    Are you going into town tomorrow?

What are some examples of 城 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    他在城里工作。

    Tā zài chéng li gōngzuò.

    He works in the city.

  2. HSK 4

    这是一座小城。

    Zhè shì yí zuò xiǎo chéng.

    This is a small town.

  3. HSK 2

    我们明天进城。

    Wǒmen míngtiān jìn chéng.

    We're going into town tomorrow.

How is 城 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你家在城里吗？

    Nǐ jiā zài chéng li ma?

    Is your home in the city?

  2. Speaker B:

    不在，我家离城很远。

    Bú zài, wǒ jiā lí chéng hěn yuǎn.

    No, my home is far from the city.

  3. Speaker A:

    那你每天怎么来上班？

    Nà nǐ měi tiān zěnme lái shàngbān?

    Then how do you get to work every day?

  4. Speaker B:

    我坐一个小时的车。

    Wǒ zuò yí ge xiǎoshí de chē.

    I ride in a car for an hour.

What should you learn next?

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.