<p>儿童乐园 is children's playground, not play equipment.</p>

<p>The general term referring to play equipment is 游乐设施 (uncountable) or 游乐设备(countable). If you are referring to specific equipment, there are specific names for them, such as:</p>

<ul>
<li>跷跷板 - seesaw</li>
<li>滑梯 - slide</li>
<li>猴架 - monkey bars</li>
<li>沙池/坑 - sandpit</li>
</ul>

<p>As for the translation of the two sentences, I would go with the following:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li>我带孩子们到公园玩。大的喜欢踢球，最小的则喜欢使用游乐设施。<br></li>
  <li>我儿子的学校有两套游乐设备。(Google Translate)</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p><hr>
To further distinguish both 设施 and 设备, quoting from 汉典:</p>

<p><strong>设施</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>为某种需要而建立的机构、系统、组织、建筑等</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>设备</strong></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>指成套的建筑或器材</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, if you are referring to the whole installation, use 设施; if you are referring to individual equipment, use 设备.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T03:13:45.443Z
Thanks, I sometimes get worried when I see Google Translate saying something different to what I heard. I can't always confirm with my MIL because she doesn't speak enough English.
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T05:58:16.977Z
设施 sounds better. 设备 is only one thing, 设施 is usually at least a collection or a system of 设备. It would sound better to say 两套游乐设施
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T07:06:17.413Z
I must say that Google translate doesn't really do well in translating Chinese... Sometimes Bing translate does a better job.
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T10:40:24.337Z
@xiaohouzi79, it wasn't my intention to ask you to rely on it. I am just quoting the source where it came from since I am using it for my personal convenience.
杨以轩
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T11:00:46.333Z
@user58955, it seems 设备 is more suitable when talking about 套. See my edit above.
杨以轩
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T11:44:50.787Z
@QuestionOverflow - not a criticism, just pointing out why I was confused and asked this question as I usually just verify my understanding with Translate but there was a mismatch this time.
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T16:45:28.783Z
As a native speaker I haven't really seen 两套设备 when referring to play equipment, even 游乐设备 sounds strange... You may say 两套设备 for network devices (网络设备 -- here 设备 is the translation for device), and in the context of network devices, 网络设施 would sound strange. Another usual word for equipment is 器材, which is commonly seen in 运动器材, 摄影器材, etc.
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T16:58:45.860Z
To add perhaps more confusion, one can also say 游乐器械 (this might be the really formal word).
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T17:05:34.093Z
Anyway, I am not claiming that a native speaker is always correct. I may be under the influence of some regional usage that I am unaware of (This could happen a lot among native Chinese speakers, especially the people from North China where they do not have another dialect than the mandarin.). `两套游乐设施' can be found in this news article: http://news.66163.com/2008-05-01/68719.shtml.
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-24T07:50:27.250Z
@user58955, I get your drift. There are multiple words in Chinese with overlapping meanings. Usage wise, Google has 2.8M results for 游乐设备 and 3.9M results for 游乐设施. I do agree that 设施 is for a collection of 设备. So, I think our differences boils down to whether the `set` in OP's example is referring to two sets of installation or just two sets of devices though it is rare to count 设施. As for the word 器材, I personally think it is more suitable for electronic devices such as the treadmill. Anyway, thanks for all the comments. It helps us gain a deeper understanding on all these similar words :)
杨以轩
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-24T18:34:06.783Z
Not necessarily electronic. Anything clumsy and heavy count as 器材 as well. Even 游乐器材 can include slides, seesaws, etc. In some respect I don't trust Google for this because most websites it returns seem to be adverts/shopping sites, where people try every possible combination of words to increase the chance of showing up in Google results
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T02:40:24.170Z
2013-09-23T10:58:28.930Z
2013-09-23T10:58:28.930Z
杨以轩
<p>On the weekend I asked my mother-in-law how to say "children's play equipment" in Chinese, the answer I received was 儿童乐园.</p>

<p>I want to get some clarification on this and want someones help on translating the following two sentences into Chinese:</p>

<ul>
<li>I took my children to the park. The oldest likes to kick a ball and the youngest likes to use the play equipment.</li>
<li>My son's school has two sets of play equipment.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-23T05:56:20.080Z
children's play equipment: 儿童游乐设施
user58955
<word-choice>
Children's play equipment and 儿童乐园
# Children's play equipment and 儿童乐园

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-09-23)

On the weekend I asked my mother-in-law how to say "children's play equipment" in Chinese, the answer I received was 儿童乐园.

I want to get some clarification on this and want someones help on translating the following two sentences into Chinese:

* I took my children to the park. The oldest likes to kick a ball and the youngest likes to use the play equipment.
* My son's school has two sets of play equipment.

**Tags:** word-choice

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: children's play equipment: 儿童游乐设施  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-09-23. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

儿童乐园 is children's playground, not play equipment.

The general term referring to play equipment is 游乐设施 (uncountable) or 游乐设备(countable). If you are referring to specific equipment, there are specific names for them, such as:

* 跷跷板 - seesaw
* 滑梯 - slide
* 猴架 - monkey bars
* 沙池/坑 - sandpit

As for the translation of the two sentences, I would go with the following:

> * 我带孩子们到公园玩。大的喜欢踢球，最小的则喜欢使用游乐设施。
> * 我儿子的学校有两套游乐设备。(Google Translate)

---

To further distinguish both 设施 and 设备, quoting from 汉典:

**设施**

> 为某种需要而建立的机构、系统、组织、建筑等

**设备**

> 指成套的建筑或器材

So, if you are referring to the whole installation, use 设施; if you are referring to individual equipment, use 设备.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, I sometimes get worried when I see Google Translate saying something different to what I heard. I can't always confirm with my MIL because she doesn't speak enough English.  
> **username_1**: 设施 sounds better. 设备 is only one thing, 设施 is usually at least a collection or a system of 设备. It would sound better to say 两套游乐设施  
> **username_1**: I must say that Google translate doesn't really do well in translating Chinese... Sometimes Bing translate does a better job.  
> **username_2**: @xiaohouzi79, it wasn't my intention to ask you to rely on it. I am just quoting the source where it came from since I am using it for my personal convenience.  
> **username_2**: @username_1, it seems 设备 is more suitable when talking about 套. See my edit above.  
> **username_0**: @QuestionOverflow - not a criticism, just pointing out why I was confused and asked this question as I usually just verify my understanding with Translate but there was a mismatch this time.  
> **username_1**: As a native speaker I haven't really seen 两套设备 when referring to play equipment, even 游乐设备 sounds strange... You may say 两套设备 for network devices (网络设备 -- here 设备 is the translation for device), and in the context of network devices, 网络设施 would sound strange. Another usual word for equipment is 器材, which is commonly seen in 运动器材, 摄影器材, etc.  
> **username_1**: To add perhaps more confusion, one can also say 游乐器械 (this might be the really formal word).  
> **username_1**: Anyway, I am not claiming that a native speaker is always correct. I may be under the influence of some regional usage that I am unaware of (This could happen a lot among native Chinese speakers, especially the people from North China where they do not have another dialect than the mandarin.). `两套游乐设施' can be found in this news article: http://news.66163.com/2008-05-01/68719.shtml.  
> **username_2**: @username_1, I get your drift. There are multiple words in Chinese with overlapping meanings. Usage wise, Google has 2.8M results for 游乐设备 and 3.9M results for 游乐设施. I do agree that 设施 is for a collection of 设备. So, I think our differences boils down to whether the `set` in OP's example is referring to two sets of installation or just two sets of devices though it is rare to count 设施. As for the word 器材, I personally think it is more suitable for electronic devices such as the treadmill. Anyway, thanks for all the comments. It helps us gain a deeper understanding on all these similar words :)  
> **username_1**: Not necessarily electronic. Anything clumsy and heavy count as 器材 as well. Even 游乐器材 can include slides, seesaws, etc. In some respect I don't trust Google for this because most websites it returns seem to be adverts/shopping sites, where people try every possible combination of words to increase the chance of showing up in Google results  

---

