Company & Workplace in Chinese 公司
gōngsī
Company in Chinese is 公司 (gōng sī).
Also searched for as: company, boss, business, workplace.
Where do you work? 15 essential the company words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The word for company in Chinese is 公司 (gōng sī), and it sits at the centre of everyday working life. With 上班 (shàng bān), to go to work, 下班 (xià bān), to finish work, and 同事 (tóng shì), colleague, you can already describe your working day; the rest of the list covers departments, clients, projects and the dreaded 加班 (jiā bān), working overtime.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 公司 | gōng sī | company |
| 上班 | shàng bān | to go to work |
| 下班 | xià bān | to finish work |
| 同事 | tóng shì | colleague |
| 部门 | bù mén | department |
| 领导 | lǐng dǎo | leader; boss |
| 员工 | yuán gōng | employee |
| 客户 | kè hù | client |
| 总部 | zǒng bù | headquarters |
| 团队 | tuán duì | team |
| 项目 | xiàng mù | project |
| 负责 | fù zé | to be in charge of |
| 合作 | hé zuò | to cooperate |
| 加班 | jiā bān | to work overtime |
| 请假 | qǐng jià | to ask for time off |
Usage tips
- 上班 means both going to work and being at work, so 我在上班 (wǒ zài shàng bān) means "I'm at work". Office workers as a group are 上班族 (shàng bān zú).
- In mainland workplaces your superiors are very often called 领导 (lǐng dǎo). 老板 (lǎo bǎn) usually means the owner, so in a large firm 领导 or 经理 (jīng lǐ) is the safer word for your boss.
- The measure word for companies is 家 (jiā): 一家公司 (yī jiā gōng sī). 请假 can be split to add detail: 请一天假 (qǐng yī tiān jià), 请病假 (qǐng bìng jià) for sick leave.
Common mistakes
- Following English word order with 我工作在一家公司 → the place goes before the verb: 我在一家公司工作 (wǒ zài yī jiā gōng sī gōng zuò).
- Giving 合作 a direct object, as in 我们合作他们 → use 跟 or 和: 我们跟他们合作 (wǒ men gēn tā men hé zuò).
Mini dialogue
- A你在哪个部门工作？Nǐ zài nǎ gè bù mén gōng zuò?Which department do you work in?
- B市场部，我们团队一共十个人。Shì chǎng bù, wǒ men tuán duì yī gòng shí gè rén.Marketing. There are ten of us in the team.
- A你们经常加班吗？Nǐ men jīng cháng jiā bān ma?Do you work overtime a lot?
- B最近有个大项目，几乎每天都加班，连请假都很难。Zuì jìn yǒu gè dà xiàng mù, jī hū měi tiān dōu jiā bān, lián qǐng jià dōu hěn nán.We've got a big project on, so we're doing overtime almost every day. It's hard even to get time off.
- A太辛苦了！Tài xīn kǔ le!That sounds exhausting!
Example sentences
- 我每天九点上班。I start work at nine every day.
- 你几点下班？What time do you finish work?
- 你在哪个部门工作？Which department do you work in?
- 领导让我明天交报告。My boss asked me to hand in the report tomorrow.
- 公司有五十个员工。The company has fifty employees.
- 下午我要去见一个客户。I have to see a client this afternoon.
- 我们公司的总部在上海。Our company's headquarters are in Shanghai.
- 我们的团队一共有八个人。There are eight people in our team.
- 这个项目下个月完成。This project will be finished next month.
- 小王负责这次活动。Xiao Wang is in charge of this event.
- 我们两家公司合作得很好。Our two companies work well together.
- 今天我又要加班了。I have to work overtime again today.
- 我明天想请假去看医生。I'd like to take tomorrow off to see a doctor.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The The company speaking island has 8 everyday questions about the company to prepare your own answers to.