What is the difference between 栋 and 座?
Both 栋 and 座 are measure words for buildings. 栋 is used for houses and buildings, and in many cities it is also the number of a residential building in a compound: 3栋 is Building 3. 座 is a broader measure word for large, fixed things: buildings, mountains, bridges, towers, even cities (一座山, 一座桥, 一座城市); office complexes often label their towers A座, B座. In an address, 单元 (dānyuán) is the entrance or stairwell of a building, so 3栋2单元501 is Building 3, Entrance 2, Flat 501.
| 栋 | houses and buildings; building numbers in residential compounds: 一栋楼, 5栋 |
|---|---|
| 座 | large fixed things: 一座山, 一座桥, 一座城市; office towers: A座 |
栋 dòng
Example sentences
- 我住在8栋3单元。I live in Building 8, Entrance 3.
- 这栋楼有二十层。This building has twenty floors.
座 zuò
From the readings on this site
- 我觉得，夜市代表的不只是美食，而是一座城市晚上的性格。I think what a night market represents is not just delicious food, but the character of a city at night.HSK 4 · 夜市文化
- 有一次，他在一座寺庙的墙上画了四条龙，这些龙画得跟真的一样，可是都没有眼睛。Once he painted four dragons on the wall of a temple; they looked just like real ones, but none of them had eyes.HSK 4 · 成语故事：画龙点睛
- 最早的汉字很像图画：“山”看起来像三座山，“雨”里的四个点，就像正在掉下来的雨。The earliest characters were much like pictures: 山 looks like three mountain peaks, and the four dots inside 雨 look like falling rain.HSK 4 · 汉字的美
