noun HSK 4
glass · glass material
Meaning
玻璃 refers to the transparent material glass, commonly used for windows, bottles, and other objects. It's a fundamental material noun in everyday Chinese and appears in numerous compound words related to glass objects.
Usage
This word is used for the material glass itself, not drinking glasses (which are 杯子 bēizi). Native speakers use it to describe glass windows, glass doors, glass bottles, and other glass objects. It's a neutral, standard term used across all registers.
Examples
- 01小心，地上有碎玻璃。, .Be careful, there's broken glass on the ground.
- 02这个房间的玻璃窗很大，采光特别好。, .This room has large glass windows, so the natural lighting is especially good.
Characters
Measure words
- 块一块玻璃
- 片一片玻璃
Common collocations
- 玻璃杯glass cup
- 玻璃窗glass window
- 玻璃门glass door
- 碎玻璃broken glass
Origin
Both characters 玻 and 璃 are relatively modern phonetic borrowings that emerged to represent the foreign material 'glass' when it became common in China. Neither character typically appears independently in modern usage.