TongTong
Sign in

杯 (bēi) — (classifier) cup of (a drink); glass of; a — used for liquids served in cups or glasses

Definition

Measure word for a cup or glass of a drink — used with liquids like 茶, 啤酒, 红酒. The note 'variant of 杯[bei1]' in the dictionary is misleading: this is the same 杯, only the measure-word sense.

classifier
cup of (a drink)glass ofa — used for liquids served in cups or glasses

Examples

  • 杯。
    Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi chá.
    Please give me a cup of tea.
  • 杯。
    Tā hē le sān bēi pí jiǔ.
    He drank three glasses of beer.
  • 杯。
    Měi tiān hē yì bēi hóng jiǔ duì shēn tǐ yǒu hǎo chù.
    Drinking a glass of red wine every day is good for your health.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
不
不bù杯bēi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

杯 is built from 木, meaning wood, and 不, which gives the sound.

Grammar

Appears in
500 Most Frequent Chinese Words1000 Most Frequent Chinese WordsMeasure Words2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.