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铅笔 (qiān bǐ) — pencil

Definition

Literally "lead brush": a pencil. The general word for any writing instrument is 笔; use 钢笔 for a fountain pen and 笔 to mean pen/pencil/brush in general.

noun
pencil
Measure word · 支, 枝, 杆

Examples

  • 铅笔。
    Wǒ mǎi le yì zhī qiān bǐ.
    I bought a pencil.
  • 铅笔。
    Zhè zhī qiān bǐ shì lán sè de.
    This pencil is blue.
  • 铅笔。
    Wǒ de qiān bǐ zài zhuō zi shàng.
    My pencil is on the table.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

铅qiānlead
笔bǐpen

铅 (lead) names the material and 笔 (pen) names the writing instrument, giving pencil.

Characters in this word

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 鉛; 铅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
金金jīnmetal
Sound part声符shēngfú
㕣
㕣㕣鉛qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The form 鉛 pairs 金 (metal) with 㕣 as a sound part.

Open 铅 →

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 筆; 笔 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
聿
聿yù筆bǐ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 笔 is based on the traditional form 筆, which puts 竹 (bamboo) beside 聿 (writing brush). 聿 already meant the brush and supplied the sound; 竹 was added later to show it was made of bamboo.

Open 笔 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 3Classroom & Study

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