红绿灯 hóng-lǜdēng
“traffic lights”
nounTraditional 紅綠燈
新HSK等级2025 HSK 3.0 syllabus level
红绿灯 appears in the November 2025 exam syllabus in the following numbered entry. Levels refer to the listed reading and use, not every meaning.
- Entry 670: 红绿灯 hóng-lǜdēng — Level 3; official annotation 3 (名). PDF page 96
Separate from the HSK 2.0 and 2021 list labels above. Compare the three lists.
用法How to use 红绿灯
红绿灯 means "traffic lights", referring to the signals as a set. Common patterns include 看红绿灯 (watch the traffic lights), 等红绿灯 (wait at the lights) and 路口有红绿灯 (there are traffic lights at the intersection). 红灯 and 绿灯 refer to the individual red and green lights.
例句Example sentences
- 过马路的时候一定要看红绿灯。guò mǎ lù de shí hou yí dìng yào kàn hóng lǜ dēng.You must watch the traffic lights when you cross the road.
- 前面路口有红绿灯，到那儿再转弯。qián miàn lù kǒu yǒu hóng lǜ dēng, dào nàr zài zhuǎn wān.There are traffic lights at the intersection ahead; turn there.
- 我们在这个红绿灯前面等他吧。wǒ men zài zhè ge hóng lǜ dēng qián miàn děng tā ba.Let's wait for him before these traffic lights.
易混词Easily confused
红绿灯vs红灯
红灯 is just the red light; 红绿灯 refers to the whole traffic-light set (red and green, i.e. the signals). So 看红绿灯 is general, while 红灯亮了 means 'the red light has come on'.