工程师 (gōng chéng shī)

noun HSK 4

Traditional 工程師

gōng chéng shī

engineer

Meaning

工程师 refers to a professional who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, structures, or systems. It covers all engineering fields including civil, mechanical, electrical, software, and chemical engineering. This is a formal occupational title used in both everyday conversation and professional contexts.

Usage

Commonly used to describe someone's profession or job title. Often combined with specific fields to create compound job titles like 软件工程师 (software engineer) or 土木工程师 (civil engineer). The term is neutral and professional in register.

Examples

01
他是一名软件工程师，在一家互联网公司工作。
Tā shì yī míng ruǎn jiàn gōng chéng shī, zài yī jiā hù lián wǎng gōng sī gōng zuò.
He is a software engineer and works at an internet company.
02
这个项目需要十几位工程师共同完成。
Zhè ge xiàng mù xū yào shí jǐ wèi gōng chéng shī gòng tóng wán chéng.
This project requires more than ten engineers to complete together.

Characters

Measure words

位wèi一位工程师
名míng三名工程师

Common collocations

软件工程师
ruǎn jiàn gōng chéng shī
software engineer
机械工程师
jī xiè gōng chéng shī
mechanical engineer
土木工程师
tǔ mù gōng chéng shī
civil engineer
电气工程师
diàn qì gōng chéng shī
electrical engineer

Origin

The word combines 工程 (engineering, construction project) with 师 (master/expert), literally meaning 'engineering master.' The term emerged in modern Chinese as a translation for the Western concept of 'engineer' during China's modernization period.