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条 (tiáo) — (classifier) used for long, thin objects (rivers, roads, trousers, fish, etc.); (noun) a strip; an item; an article; a clause

Definition

条 (tiáo) is the go-to classifier for long, thin things — fish, rivers, roads, trousers. As a noun it means a strip or a single item/clause (一条新闻, 一条法律).

classifier
used for longthin objects (rivers, roads, trousers, fish, etc.)
noun
a stripan iteman articlea clause
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Zhè tiáo yú hěn dà.
    This fish is very big.
  • 。
    Tā yǒu yì tiáo hóng kù zi.
    He has a red pair of trousers.
  • 。
    Zhuō zi shàng yǒu sān tiáo yú.
    There are three fish on the table.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 條; 条 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
攸
攸yōu條tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 條 pairs 木, a small branch or stick, with 攸, which shows a person warned by a hand holding a stick, as a sound part; 条 is a later shortened shape.

Grammar

Appears in
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