借
Tap the pinyin to hear it
to borrow; (used in combination with 給|给[gei3] or 出[chu1] etc) to lend; to make use of; to avail oneself of; (sometimes followed by 著|着[zhe5]) by; with
- HSK 3.0
- Level 2
- Old HSK
- Level 3
- Strokes
- 10
- Radical
- 人 +8
- Structure
- Left–right 左右
- Traditional
- 借
- Common rank
- #922
- Unicode
- U+501F
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How to remember it
borrow · Heisig RSH #972
人 person + 昔 times past
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 借
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 背城借一 | to make a last-ditch stand before the city wall (idiom); to fight to the last ditch; to pu… | |
| 借字儿 | IOU; receipt for a loan | |
| 借东风 | lit. to use the eastern wind (idiom); fig. to use sb's help | |
| 借单儿 | receipt for a loan; written confirmation of a debt; IOU | |
| 借腹生子 | surrogate pregnancy | |
| 借书单 | book slip | |
| 借入方 | borrower; debit side (of a balance sheet) | |
| 借一步 | could I have a word with you? (in private) | |
| 借刀杀人 | to lend sb a knife to kill sb; to get sb else to do one's dirty work; to attack using the … | |
| 借机 | to seize the opportunity | |
| 借记卡 | debit card | |
| 借书证 | library card | |
| 有借有还，再借不难 | return what you borrowed on time, you may borrow again next time (idiom) | |
| 假借义 | the meaning of a phonetic loan character 假借字[jia3 jie4 zi4] acquired from a similar-soundi… | |
| 借出 | to lend | |
| 出借 | to lend; to put out a loan | |
| 借口 | to use as an excuse; excuse; pretext | |
| 假借字 | loan character (one of the Six Methods 六書|六书 of forming Chinese characters); character acq… | |
| 外借 | to lend (sth other than money); to borrow | |
| 借光 | excuse me (i.e. let me through, please); reflected glory; to benefit from sb else's presti… |
Sound family
Characters sharing the sound component 昔 — compare how they read.