<p>You could easily understand <strong>飞架</strong> as <strong>(to) span</strong>.</p>

<p><em>ABC</em>’s definition of 飞架 is as follows:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>arch/span high over (e.g., of a great bridge)</p>
</blockquote>

<p><em>Pleco C-E</em>’s definition is fairly similar and they add the example sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>一桥飞架南北, 天堑变通途。(毛泽东)<br>
  Yī qiáo fēijià nán-běi, tiānqiàn biàntōng tú. (Máo Zédōng)<br>
  A bridge will fly to span the north and south, | Turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Looking at your original question we could come up with something like:</p>

<p>飞架三地 = spans over three cities</p>

<p>-or- </p>

<p>If you want to take a leaf out of Pleco’s book you could render it as:</p>

<p><em>flys to span over three cities</em></p>

<p>but that doesn’t sound nearly as natural.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-25T23:33:55.433Z
2019-08-25T23:39:29.750Z
2019-08-25T23:39:29.750Z
Mou某
<p>If the sentence was "港珠澳大桥高架三地", we can understand "高架" means "rise high"</p>

<p>Imagine the bridge was like a dragon, and this dragon flying high above the sea through three territories </p>

<p>港珠澳大桥飞架三地 would mean "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge rises high above the sea like dragon fly through three territories"   </p>

<p>飞架 would mean "rises high and extends far"</p>

<p>飞架三地 would mean "rises high and extends across three territories"</p>

<p>Or </p>

<p>simply "fly across" -- <em>describe the bridge as a metaphorical dragon</em> </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-25T09:17:01.897Z
2019-08-25T13:49:19.007Z
2019-08-25T13:49:19.007Z
Tang Ho
<p>How do you make grammatical sense of 飞架 in the expression <a href="http://www.takungpao.com/news/232108/2019/0110/232225.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">港珠澳大桥飞架三地</a>? Is it "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge flies a three-city frame"? Or "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge: flying and supporting three cities"? Or something else?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-25T17:59:47.960Z
飞 and 架 are like two simultaneous actions. Since the bridge is elevated it is as if it "flies."
tvk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-26T01:47:42.190Z
一桥飞架南北 The bridge spanned (as if flying) over the south and north.
xenophōn
<translation><grammar>
Translation of 飞架 in 港珠澳大桥飞架三地
# Translation of 飞架 in 港珠澳大桥飞架三地

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-25)

How do you make grammatical sense of 飞架 in the expression [港珠澳大桥飞架三地](http://www.takungpao.com/news/232108/2019/0110/232225.html)? Is it "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge flies a three-city frame"? Or "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge: flying and supporting three cities"? Or something else?

**Tags:** translation, grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 飞 and 架 are like two simultaneous actions. Since the bridge is elevated it is as if it "flies."  
> **username_2**: 一桥飞架南北 The bridge spanned (as if flying) over the south and north.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-08-25. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

You could easily understand **飞架** as **(to) span**.

*ABC*’s definition of 飞架 is as follows:

> arch/span high over (e.g., of a great bridge)

*Pleco C-E*’s definition is fairly similar and they add the example sentence:

> 一桥飞架南北, 天堑变通途。(毛泽东)  
> Yī qiáo fēijià nán-běi, tiānqiàn biàntōng tú. (Máo Zédōng)  
> A bridge will fly to span the north and south, | Turning a deep chasm into a thoroughfare.

Looking at your original question we could come up with something like:

飞架三地 = spans over three cities

-or-

If you want to take a leaf out of Pleco’s book you could render it as:

*flys to span over three cities*

but that doesn’t sound nearly as natural.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-08-25. Score: 3

If the sentence was "港珠澳大桥高架三地", we can understand "高架" means "rise high"

Imagine the bridge was like a dragon, and this dragon flying high above the sea through three territories

港珠澳大桥飞架三地 would mean "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge rises high above the sea like dragon fly through three territories"

飞架 would mean "rises high and extends far"

飞架三地 would mean "rises high and extends across three territories"

Or

simply "fly across" -- *describe the bridge as a metaphorical dragon*


---

