<blockquote>
  <p>大学生城市<br>
  Dàxuéshēng chéngshì<br>
  University student city</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is basically <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F" rel="nofollow noreferrer">大学生</a> (dàxuéshēng) = "university student" and <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82" rel="nofollow noreferrer">城市</a> (chéngshì) = "city" stuck together, and it means something like "university student city".</p>

<p>Normally, we'd add the 的 (de) attribute particle (see <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Structural_particle_%22de%22#.E7.9A.84_.28de.29_Before_Nouns" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Structural particle "de"</a>):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>大学生<a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E7%9A%84" rel="nofollow noreferrer">的</a>城市<br>
  Dàxuéshēng de chéngshì<br>
  University student city</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this case, it seems okay to omit the 的, but it's not correct to do so in general.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Could ["City of students"] be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Basically, yes.</strong>  Examples of it being used are <a href="http://www.sohu.com/a/239078005_597849" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中国最缺<strong>大学生城市</strong></a> and <a href="https://www.ixueshu.com/document/b8bfdc734a73ef281295db6e14fdff21318947a18e7f9386.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>大学生城市</strong>就业分析</a> (more examples are found by searching Baidu for <a href="https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%22%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>"大学生城市"</code></a>).</p>

<p>Also note that when writing pinyin, we group Chinese words together, e.g. "chéngshì" and not "chéng shì".  It would be regarded as incorrect to do otherwise.</p>

<p>And as <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/17999/8099">Wang Dingwei</a> points out, there's a more succinct option:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E" rel="nofollow noreferrer">大学城</a><br>
  Dàxué chéng<br>
  University city</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>The next part asks about:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>城市国旗的颜色是灰色和黄色<br>
  Chéngshì guóqí de yánsè shì huīsè hé huángsè</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There's two problems here.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>There is a <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">国</a> (guó) = "country" in <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%BD%E6%97%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">国旗</a> (guóqí) = "flag", which is a contradiction with it being a "city flag".  I believe it's okay to just delete the 国, but 城市旗 is uncommon.</p>

<p>It should be <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%E6%97%97%E5%B8%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer">城市旗帜</a> (chéngshì qízhì) = "city flag" where <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%97%97%E5%B8%9C" rel="nofollow noreferrer">旗帜</a> (qízhì) = "flag" is the longer version of <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E6%97%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">旗</a> (qí) = "flag".  However, we could use the shorter version <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E5%B8%82%E6%97%97" rel="nofollow noreferrer">市旗</a> (shìqí) = "city flag".</p></li>
<li><p>Colors like <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E7%81%B0%E8%89%B2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">灰色</a> (huīsè) = "gray" and <a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E9%BB%84%E8%89%B2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">黄色</a> (huángsè) "yellow" are examples of <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Distinguishing_word" rel="nofollow noreferrer">distinguishing words</a>, and we use the structure</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Subj. + 是 + [Distinguishing Words] + 的</p>
</blockquote>

<p>(source <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_%22shi..._de%22_patterns:_an_overview#Used_with_Distinguishing_Words" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chinese Grammar Wiki</a>.)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Fixing these gives</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>市旗</strong>的颜色是灰色和黄色<strong>的</strong><br>
  <strong>Shìqí</strong> de yánsè shì huīsè hé huángsè <strong>de</strong><br>
  [The] city flag color is gray and yellow</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As I understand, this is grammatical, although we can make it shorter (like in English):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>市旗是灰色和黄色的<br>
  Shìqí shì huīsè hé huángsè de<br>
  [The] city flag is gray and yellow</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-09T05:06:13.147Z
2019-12-09T05:06:13.147Z
Becky 李蓓
<p>For the first part, I think you mean 大学城. Google that and you will see.</p>

<p>Ivan is correct about 市旗. The description, however, could use a bit of polishing. Try 市旗为灰黄二色。</p>

<p>Or, if you are referring to the flag of the 大学城 (if such a thing even exists), since it isn't really a city, you may have to say 大学城的旗帜为灰黄二色。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T14:54:25.643Z
"city of students" just means a city in which a lot of students live. 大学城 means "university town", like Oxford or something. That's not really the same thing. I don't know if *da xue sheng cheng shi* would be a better fit, though.
KWeiss
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-18T03:02:55.937Z
@KWeiss 大学城 is usually a town-sized area mainly consists of several colleges and many students. I don't know about Oxford but one place comes to my mind is [松江大学城](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E6%B1%9F%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E). If it's just a city where lots of students live, then you might want to be explicit and say something like 住着很多大学生的城市.
Wang Dingwei
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T06:59:49.500Z
2016-05-17T07:14:10.033Z
2016-05-17T07:14:10.033Z
Wang Dingwei
<p>For the first part, Wang Dingwei is right.</p>

<p>For the second sentence, guoqi(国旗) refers to the national flag. The city flag should be translated to "shiqi"(市旗). I think "shiqi de yanse shi huise he huangse"(市旗的颜色是灰色和黄色) should be right.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T05:13:02.780Z
would 城市旗帜 instead of 市旗 be possible (for greater clarity, when spoken)?
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T06:28:02.440Z
市旗 is more accurate to express the meaning of "the city flag". Personally, I think 城市旗帜 might refer to all the flags in the city.
Ivan Tupolev
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T07:24:32.923Z
Anyhow  meaning of shi4qi2 clear from context. also anyhow jukuu has an example with 旗帜 meaning a single flag of a city：由上届奥运会主办城市的代表将旗交给国际奥委会主席，再由主席将旗递交本届主办城市的市长，然后将旗帜保存在市府大楼，四年后再送交下届主办城市。
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T07:30:51.500Z
With a clear context, you can use 旗帜 to represent 市旗.
Ivan Tupolev
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-17T00:52:01.853Z
2016-05-17T07:27:01.747Z
2016-05-17T07:27:01.747Z
Ivan Tupolev
<p>I am student of chinese language, level 1 and I will have to make a presentation about my city.
I would truly appreciate your help.
The title is "City of students". Could it be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?
And also, to indicate the colours of the city flag is the sentence "Chengshi guoqi de yanse shi hui se he huang se" correct (by any chance)?
Thank you so much!</p>

<sentence-structure>
Can "City of students" be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?
# Can "City of students" be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-17)

I am student of chinese language, level 1 and I will have to make a presentation about my city.
I would truly appreciate your help.
The title is "City of students". Could it be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?
And also, to indicate the colours of the city flag is the sentence "Chengshi guoqi de yanse shi hui se he huang se" correct (by any chance)?
Thank you so much!

**Tags:** sentence-structure


---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-12-09. Score: 1

> 大学生城市  
> Dàxuéshēng chéngshì  
> University student city

This is basically [大学生](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F) (dàxuéshēng) = "university student" and [城市](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82) (chéngshì) = "city" stuck together, and it means something like "university student city".

Normally, we'd add the 的 (de) attribute particle (see [Structural particle "de"](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Structural_particle_%22de%22#.E7.9A.84_.28de.29_Before_Nouns)):

> 大学生[的](http://youdao.com/w/%E7%9A%84)城市  
> Dàxuéshēng de chéngshì  
> University student city

In this case, it seems okay to omit the 的, but it's not correct to do so in general.

> Could ["City of students"] be translated to "Da xue sheng cheng shi"?

**Basically, yes.** Examples of it being used are [中国最缺**大学生城市**](http://www.sohu.com/a/239078005_597849) and [**大学生城市**就业分析](https://www.ixueshu.com/document/b8bfdc734a73ef281295db6e14fdff21318947a18e7f9386.html) (more examples are found by searching Baidu for [`"大学生城市"`](https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%22%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%22)).

Also note that when writing pinyin, we group Chinese words together, e.g. "chéngshì" and not "chéng shì". It would be regarded as incorrect to do otherwise.

And as [username_2](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/17999/8099) points out, there's a more succinct option:

> [大学城](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E)  
> Dàxué chéng  
> University city

---

The next part asks about:

> 城市国旗的颜色是灰色和黄色  
> Chéngshì guóqí de yánsè shì huīsè hé huángsè

There's two problems here.

1. There is a [国](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%BD) (guó) = "country" in [国旗](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9B%BD%E6%97%97) (guóqí) = "flag", which is a contradiction with it being a "city flag". I believe it's okay to just delete the 国, but 城市旗 is uncommon.

   It should be [城市旗帜](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%9F%8E%E5%B8%82%E6%97%97%E5%B8%9C) (chéngshì qízhì) = "city flag" where [旗帜](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%97%97%E5%B8%9C) (qízhì) = "flag" is the longer version of [旗](http://youdao.com/w/%E6%97%97) (qí) = "flag". However, we could use the shorter version [市旗](http://youdao.com/w/%E5%B8%82%E6%97%97) (shìqí) = "city flag".
2. Colors like [灰色](http://youdao.com/w/%E7%81%B0%E8%89%B2) (huīsè) = "gray" and [黄色](http://youdao.com/w/%E9%BB%84%E8%89%B2) (huángsè) "yellow" are examples of [distinguishing words](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Distinguishing_word), and we use the structure

   > Subj. + 是 + [Distinguishing Words] + 的

   (source [Chinese Grammar Wiki](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_%22shi..._de%22_patterns:_an_overview#Used_with_Distinguishing_Words).)

Fixing these gives

> **市旗**的颜色是灰色和黄色**的**  
> **Shìqí** de yánsè shì huīsè hé huángsè **de**  
> [The] city flag color is gray and yellow

As I understand, this is grammatical, although we can make it shorter (like in English):

> 市旗是灰色和黄色的  
> Shìqí shì huīsè hé huángsè de  
> [The] city flag is gray and yellow


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-05-17. Score: 1

For the first part, I think you mean 大学城. Google that and you will see.

Ivan is correct about 市旗. The description, however, could use a bit of polishing. Try 市旗为灰黄二色。

Or, if you are referring to the flag of the 大学城 (if such a thing even exists), since it isn't really a city, you may have to say 大学城的旗帜为灰黄二色。

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: "city of students" just means a city in which a lot of students live. 大学城 means "university town", like Oxford or something. That's not really the same thing. I don't know if *da xue sheng cheng shi* would be a better fit, though.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 大学城 is usually a town-sized area mainly consists of several colleges and many students. I don't know about Oxford but one place comes to my mind is [松江大学城](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE%E6%B1%9F%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E5%9F%8E). If it's just a city where lots of students live, then you might want to be explicit and say something like 住着很多大学生的城市.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-05-17. Score: 1

For the first part, username_2 is right.

For the second sentence, guoqi(国旗) refers to the national flag. The city flag should be translated to "shiqi"(市旗). I think "shiqi de yanse shi huise he huangse"(市旗的颜色是灰色和黄色) should be right.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: would 城市旗帜 instead of 市旗 be possible (for greater clarity, when spoken)?  
> **username_4**: 市旗 is more accurate to express the meaning of "the city flag". Personally, I think 城市旗帜 might refer to all the flags in the city.  
> **username_5**: Anyhow  meaning of shi4qi2 clear from context. also anyhow jukuu has an example with 旗帜 meaning a single flag of a city：由上届奥运会主办城市的代表将旗交给国际奥委会主席，再由主席将旗递交本届主办城市的市长，然后将旗帜保存在市府大楼，四年后再送交下届主办城市。  
> **username_4**: With a clear context, you can use 旗帜 to represent 市旗.  

---

