乘客 chéngkè passenger
How to remember 乘客: 乘 ride + 客 guest = passenger.
Characters
How it is used
- 乘客 (chéngkè) means a passenger riding in a vehicle - bus, train, plane, taxi - and is the standard word announcers and signs use: 各位乘客请注意 (gèwèi chéngkè qǐng zhùyì) - attention, passengers.
- It's more formal/written than casual speech, where people rarely refer to themselves as 乘客 in conversation but the word is ubiquitous on public transit.
- 乘 here is the same root as in 乘坐 (chéngzuò, to ride/travel by) and 乘车 (chéngchē, to take a vehicle) - all relate to boarding transport, distinct from 骑 (qí), used for straddling a bike or horse.
Example sentences
- 万幸，没乘客受伤。 Wànxìng, méi chéngkè shòushāng.Fortunately, no passengers were injured.
- 不下50个乘客死了。 Búxià 50gè chéngkè sǐ le.No fewer than 50 passengers were killed.
- 飞机上有50名乘客。 Fēijī shàng yǒu 50míng chéngkè.There were fifty passengers on the plane.