chūzū: 出租 - To Rent Out, For Rent, To Lease

• Keywords: chuzu, 出租, rent in China, rent out Chinese, lease Chinese, for rent in Chinese, Chinese verb for rent, 出租车, chuzuche, taxi in Chinese, landlord vs tenant Chinese.
• Summary: Learn the essential Chinese verb 出租 (chūzū), which means “to rent out” or “to lease.” This page breaks down its meaning from the landlord's or owner's perspective, distinguishing it from the tenant's action of renting. You'll understand why it's the word you see on “For Rent” signs across China and how it forms the basis for the word “taxi” (出租车, chūzūchē), making it a crucial term for daily life, housing, and transportation.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): chūzū
• Part of Speech: Verb
• HSK Level: HSK 3
• Concise Definition: To rent something that you own out to someone else.
• In a Nutshell: 出租 (chūzū) is the action from the owner's point of view. If you have a spare apartment, a car, or even a bicycle, and you let someone else pay to use it, you are 出租-ing it. Think of it as “to put out for rent.” It's the word on the sign, not the action of the person looking for a place.

• 出 (chū): To go out, to exit, to come out, to put out. Imagine a plant sprouting out of the ground. It signifies movement from inside to outside.
• 租 (zū): To rent. This character is composed of 禾 (hé), meaning “grain,” and 且 (qiě), a phonetic component. Historically, rent and taxes were often paid with grain, so you can remember this as paying for something with grain (禾).
• Combined Meaning: The characters literally combine to mean “to put out (出) for rent (租).” The logic is straightforward: an owner is putting their property *out* into the market for someone else *to rent*.

In modern China, 出租 is a cornerstone of the urban economy. Millions of young professionals and migrant workers move to bustling cities like Beijing and Shanghai, creating a massive rental market. This “floating population” (流动人口, liúdòng rénkǒu) relies heavily on renting apartments (租房, zūfáng). The key cultural distinction for a learner is the directionality of the transaction, which is more explicit in Chinese than in English.

• Western Concept: The word “rent” is ambiguous. “I'm going to rent an apartment” (tenant's view) and “He rents out apartments” (landlord's view) use the same core verb.
• Chinese Concept: The roles are clearly separated by different words.
  • The landlord 出租 (chūzū)s the apartment (gives it out for rent).
  • The tenant 租 (zū)s the apartment (takes it for rent).

This distinction reflects a high-context culture where the roles and relationships in a transaction are often embedded directly into the language. While homeownership is a significant life goal in China, 出租 represents the practical reality for a huge segment of the population and a primary source of income for many property owners.

You'll encounter 出租 constantly in a few key situations:

• Housing: You will see handwritten signs or formal listings with “房屋出租” (fángwū chūzū - House/Apartment for Rent) or simply “出租” posted on apartment building gates or online.
• Transportation: This is perhaps the most common daily usage. A taxi is called an “出租车” (chūzūchē), literally a “rent-out car.” When you want to get a taxi, you are getting a car that is “for hire.”
• Renting Other Items: The term can apply to other items like cars for self-driving (出租汽车, chūzū qìchē) or equipment, though for shared bikes, more modern terms like 共享单车 (gòngxiǎng dānchē) are now used.

The term is neutral and standard, appropriate for both formal legal contracts (租赁合同, zūlìn hétong) and casual conversations about finding a place to live.

• Example 1:
• 房东想把他的公寓出租。
• Pinyin: Fángdōng xiǎng bǎ tā de gōngyù chūzū.
• English: The landlord wants to rent out his apartment.
• Analysis: This sentence clearly shows 出租 as the landlord's action. The `把 (bǎ)` structure is used to bring the object (his apartment) before the verb.
• Example 2:
• 我在找一个可以出租的房间。
• Pinyin: Wǒ zài zhǎo yī ge kěyǐ chūzū de fángjiān.
• English: I'm looking for a room that is for rent.
• Analysis: Here, 出租 is used to describe the status of the room—one that is “rentable” or available “for rent.” The `的 (de)` turns the verb phrase into an adjective describing the room.
• Example 3:
• 这辆车出租吗？
• Pinyin: Zhè liàng chē chūzū ma?
• English: Is this car for rent/hire?
• Analysis: A simple and direct question you could ask at a car rental agency. It asks about the car's availability to be rented out.
• Example 4:
• 我们坐出租车去机场吧。
• Pinyin: Wǒmen zuò chūzūchē qù jīchǎng ba.
• English: Let's take a taxi to the airport.
• Analysis: This is the most common compound word using 出租. Note that 出租车 is a single noun.
• Example 5:
• 他把市中心的房子出租了，自己搬到了郊区。
• Pinyin: Tā bǎ shì zhōngxīn de fángzi chūzū le, zìjǐ bān dào le jiāoqū.
• English: He rented out his downtown apartment and moved to the suburbs himself.
• Analysis: The particle `了 (le)` indicates the completion of the action “to rent out.”
• Example 6:
• 这个店面出租，每月租金两万块。
• Pinyin: Zhège diànmiàn chūzū, měi yuè zūjīn liǎng wàn kuài.
• English: This storefront is for rent; the monthly rent is 20,000 RMB.
• Analysis: A typical phrase you'd see on a “For Rent” sign for a commercial property, stating its status and price.
• Example 7:
• 对不起，我们的船只在夏天出租。
• Pinyin: Duìbuqǐ, wǒmen de chuán zhǐ zài xiàtiān chūzū.
• English: Sorry, our boats are only for rent during the summer.
• Analysis: Shows how 出租 can be used for things other than housing or cars, and can be limited by conditions like time.
• Example 8:
• 你这套公寓是整套出租还是分租？
• Pinyin: Nǐ zhè tào gōngyù shì zhěngtào chūzū háishì fēnzū?
• English: Are you renting this apartment out as a whole unit or renting out individual rooms?
• Analysis: This shows practical vocabulary related to renting. 整套出租 (zhěngtào chūzū) means renting out the entire apartment, while 分租 (fēnzū) means renting it out room by room.
• Example 9:
• 法律规定，没有房产证的房子不能出租。
• Pinyin: Fǎlǜ guīdìng, méiyǒu fángchǎnzhèng de fángzi bùnéng chūzū.
• English: The law stipulates that a house without a property ownership certificate cannot be rented out.
• Analysis: Demonstrates a more formal, legal context for the word 出租.
• Example 10:
• 我想租房子，请问您这里有房要出租吗？
• Pinyin: Wǒ xiǎng zū fángzi, qǐngwèn nín zhèlǐ yǒu fáng yào chūzū ma?
• English: I want to rent an apartment, may I ask if you have one for rent here?
• Analysis: This is a perfect example showing the contrast between `租 (zū)` (tenant's action) and `出租 (chūzū)` (landlord's action) in a single, practical conversation.

• The Golden Rule: 出租 (chūzū) vs. 租 (zū)

This is the most critical pitfall for learners. They are NOT interchangeable.

• 出租 (chūzū): To rent OUT. (Owner's action). “My landlord 出租s this apartment.”
• 租 (zū): To rent FROM. (Tenant's action). “I 租 this apartment.”
• Incorrect: 我想出租一个两室一厅的公寓。 (Wǒ xiǎng chūzū yí ge liǎng shì yī tīng de gōngyù.)
  • Why it's wrong: This means “I want to rent out a two-bedroom apartment,” implying you are the landlord looking for a tenant.
• Correct: 我想租一个两室一厅的公寓。 (Wǒ xiǎng zū yí ge liǎng shì yī tīng de gōngyù.)
  • Meaning: “I want to rent a two-bedroom apartment.”
• 出租车 (chūzūchē) vs. 滴滴 (Dīdī)

While 出租车 is the official word for a taxi, in daily conversation, especially among younger people, it's extremely common to use the name of the dominant ride-hailing app, Didi Chuxing. People will often say “我们叫个滴滴吧” (wǒmen jiào ge Dīdī ba - “Let's call a Didi”), which functions just like saying “Let's get an Uber” in English and can refer to either a private car or a taxi hailed through the app.

• 租 (zū) - To rent (from a tenant's perspective). The direct counterpart to 出租.
• 房租 (fángzū) - Rent money; the payment for renting a property.
• 出租车 (chūzūchē) - Taxi; a car that is for hire.
• 房东 (fángdōng) - Landlord or landlady (lit. “house owner”).
• 租房 (zūfáng) - To rent a house/apartment. Often used to describe the general activity of apartment-hunting.
• 租赁 (zūlìn) - To lease. A more formal and legal term used in contracts and business.
• 押金 (yājīn) - Security deposit; money held by the landlord during the lease.
• 合同 (hétong) - Contract, such as a rental agreement or lease.
• 司机 (sījī) - Driver, especially a taxi driver (出租车司机).
• 乘客 (chéngkè) - Passenger, for example, someone riding in a taxi.