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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.
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children's play equipment: 儿童游乐设施 –  user58955 Sep 23 '13 at 5:56

1 Answer 1

up vote 5 down vote accepted

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:





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

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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. –  xiaohouzi79 Sep 23 '13 at 3:13
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 Sep 23 '13 at 5:58
I must say that Google translate doesn't really do well in translating Chinese... Sometimes Bing translate does a better job. –  user58955 Sep 23 '13 at 7:06
@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 Sep 23 '13 at 10:40
@user58955, it seems 设备 is more suitable when talking about 套. See my edit above. –  杨以轩 Sep 23 '13 at 11:00

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