noun HSK 4
sand · grit
Meaning
沙子 refers to sand, the small granular particles you find on beaches, in deserts, or used in construction. It's the everyday word for sand in Mandarin Chinese, combining 沙 (sand) with the nominal suffix 子.
Usage
This is the standard colloquial term for sand. Native speakers use it when talking about sand at the beach, in children's sandboxes, or sand getting into things. In more formal or technical contexts, just 沙 alone might be used, but 沙子 is more common in everyday speech.
Examples
- 01孩子们在沙滩上玩沙子。.The children are playing with sand on the beach.
- 02风太大了，沙子吹进了我的眼睛里。, .The wind was too strong, and sand blew into my eyes.
Characters
Measure words
- 粒一粒沙子
- 堆一堆沙子
Common collocations
- 一粒沙子a grain of sand
- 沙子进眼睛sand gets in one's eyes
- 玩沙子to play with sand
- 建筑用沙子construction sand
Origin
沙 is the base morpheme meaning sand, derived from the water radical 氵 suggesting something found near water. The suffix 子 is commonly added to monosyllabic nouns in spoken Mandarin to create disyllabic forms.