noun HSK 3
room · house
Meaning
屋子 refers to a room or house, typically emphasizing the interior space. It's one of the most common everyday words for describing rooms in a building or a small house. The word combines 屋 (roof/house) with the diminutive suffix 子, making it feel more colloquial and friendly than the formal 房间.
Usage
Native speakers use 屋子 in casual conversation to refer to rooms in homes, apartments, or buildings. It's more informal than 房间 (fángjiān) and often implies a cozier, lived-in space. Commonly appears in descriptions of living spaces and when talking about being inside versus outside.
Examples
- 01这个屋子很干净。.This room is very clean.
- 02外面太冷了，我们进屋子吧。, .It's too cold outside, let's go inside.
Characters
Measure words
- 间一间屋子
- 个一个屋子
Common collocations
- 屋子里inside the room
- 打扫屋子to clean the room
- 整个屋子the whole room
- 进屋子to enter the room
Antonyms
Origin
屋 originally depicted a roof over a dwelling. The suffix 子 is added to create a more colloquial, familiar form of the word, common in northern Chinese dialects.