noun HSK 4
Traditional 沙發
sofa · couch
Meaning
沙发 refers to a piece of upholstered furniture designed for seating multiple people, typically found in living rooms. It's a loanword from English 'sofa', adapted phonetically into Chinese characters.
Usage
This is the standard term for sofa/couch in both mainland China and Taiwan. It's used in everyday conversation and in furniture shopping contexts. Native speakers commonly use it with measure words when counting sofas or describing furniture arrangements.
Examples
- 01我喜欢躺在沙发上看电视。.I like to lie on the sofa and watch TV.
- 02这张沙发坐着很舒服。.This sofa is very comfortable to sit on.
Characters
Measure words
- 张一张沙发
- 套一套沙发
Common collocations
- 坐在沙发上to sit on the sofa
- 皮沙发leather sofa
- 买沙发to buy a sofa
- 沙发床sofa bed
Origin
A phonetic loan from English 'sofa', borrowed in the early 20th century. The characters 沙 and 发 were chosen purely for their pronunciation and carry no semantic meaning in this context.