队长 duìzhǎng captain
captain; team leader
How to remember 队长: 队 team + 长 long = captain.
Characters
How it is used
- Team captain or leader - note 长 here is read zhǎng (leader/head), not cháng (long).
- 球队队长 (team captain), 消防队队长 (fire brigade captain) - the role that leads a 队 (team/squad).
- Same zhǎng reading and 'head of' meaning shows up in 院长, 校长, 部长 - a productive pattern worth recognizing.
- Common in sports, military, and organizational contexts.
Example sentences
- 我们要你做队长。 Wǒmen yào nǐ zuò duìzhǎng.We want you to be the team captain.
- 我们选她为我们队的队长。 Wǒmen xuǎn tā wèi wǒmen duì de duìzhǎng.We elected her captain of our team.
- 我就只告诉你，我不喜欢我们的新队长。 Wǒ jiù zhǐ gàosù nǐ, wǒ bù xǐhuān wǒmen de xīn duìzhǎng.Between you and me, I don't like our new team captain.