红绿灯 hóng-lǜdēng traffic light
traffic light; traffic signal
How to remember 红绿灯: 红 red + 绿 green + 灯 lamp = traffic light.
Characters
How it is used
- The everyday word for a traffic light - literally 'red-green-light': 前面有个红绿灯 (qiánmiàn yǒu ge hónglǜdēng) there's a traffic light ahead.
- More colloquial than the formal 交通信号灯 (jiāotōng xìnhàodēng). Common instruction: 在红绿灯右转 (zài hónglǜdēng yòu zhuǎn) turn right at the light.
Example sentences
- 沿着这条路直走，到第三个红绿灯的地方右转。 Yánzhe zhètiáo lùzhí zǒu, dào dìsāngè hónglǜdēng de dìfāng yòuzhuǎn.Go straight down this street and turn right at the third light.