HSK 3 · Common Objects

照相机 zhàoxiàngjī “camera” in Chinese

Traditional 照相機

What 照相机 means

  1. camera

Measure word 台 tái or 部 bù · 一台照相机 yì tái zhàoxiàngjī

How to say 照相机

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale照zhào4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale相xiàng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale机jī1st tone, high and level

照相机 in a sentence

  1. 你有照相机吗？

    Nǐ yǒu zhàoxiàngjī ma?

    Do you have a camera?

    Sentence #336672 from Tatoeba

  2. 爸爸给我买了一个照相机。

    Bàba gěi wǒ mǎi le yí ge zhàoxiàngjī.

    Dad bought me a camera.

    Sentence #469479 from Tatoeba

  3. 我的照相机是防水的。

    Wǒ de zhàoxiàngjī shì fángshuǐ de.

    My camera is waterproof.

    Sentence #817374 from Tatoeba

How 照相机 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 照 (zhào) with each of its parts in a different colour
照zhàoto shine
  • 昭bright · zhāoSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 昭 (zhāo) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhào.

Memory aidFire 灬 under 昭 (zhāo) “bright”: to shine, to light up, and also a photo.

The character 相 (xiāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
相xiàngappearance
  • 木tree · mù
  • 目eye · mù

Memory aidAn eye 目 looking at a tree 木: to look at, and so “each other”.

The character 机 (jī) with each of its parts in a different colour
机jīmachine; mechanism
  • 木tree · mù
  • 几table · jī

Memory aidA small table 几 made of wood 木: a machine. 几 (jī) also gives the sound.

How to write 照相机

照 13 strokes · 相 9 strokes · 机 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

照相机 (zhàoxiàngjī) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 照相机 (zhàoxiàngjī). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 照相机

Words with 照

照顾zhàogu · take care of护照hùzhào · passport照片zhàopiàn · picture拍照pāizhào · to take a photo照相zhàoxiàng · to take a photo照zhào · to shine按照ànzhào · according to执照zhízhào · licence照常zhàocháng · as usual参照cānzhào · to refer to

Words with 相

相信xiāngxìn · to believe照相zhàoxiàng · to take a photo相机xiàngjī · camera相反xiāngfǎn · opposite相同xiāngtóng · the same互相hùxiāng · each other相处xiāngchǔ · to get along (with someone)相似xiāngsì · similar相当xiāngdāng · equivalent to相对xiāngduì · relatively

Words with 机

飞机fēijī · aeroplane机场jīchǎng · airport手机shǒujī · mobile phone机票jīpiào · air ticket司机sījī · driver机会jīhuì · opportunity相机xiàngjī · camera耳机ěrjī · headphones关机guānjī · to turn off (a device)开机kāijī · to switch on (a device)

More words: Everyday Things

信用卡xìnyòngkǎ · credit card元yuán · Chinese monetary unit张zhāng · mw for flat objects照片zhàopiàn · picture只zhī · measure word for animals (a cat种zhǒng · kind出差chūchāi · to go on an official or business trip出发chūfā · to set off

FAQs

照相机 (zhàoxiàngjī) means “camera”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zhàoxiàngjī: zhào with a 4th tone, then xiàng with a 4th tone, then jī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 照相机 is written 照相機. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 台 (tái) or 部 (bù). For example, one camera is 一台照相机 (yì tái zhàoxiàngjī).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhaoxiangji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 照相机 from the suggestions. Typing zhaoxiangji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
照相机 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.