柴

Tap the pinyin to hear it

firewood; lean (of meat); thin (of a person)

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HSK 3.0: Level 5
Old HSK: Level 5
Strokes: 10
Radical: 木 +5
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 柴
Common rank: #1,414
Unicode: U+67F4

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 柴 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

木 meaning “wood” + 此 sound ( cǐ )

Components 此木

How to remember it

firewood · Heisig RSH #1711

此 this (literary) + 木 tree

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 柴

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
柴油发动机	chái yóu fā dòng jī	diesel engine
布拉柴维尔	Bù lā chái wéi ěr	Brazzaville, capital of Congo
不当家不知柴米贵	bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì	a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
柴电机车	chái diàn jī chē	diesel-electric locomotive
柴可夫斯基	Chái kě fū sī jī	Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Russian composer
柴科夫斯基	Chái kē fū sī jī	Piotr Ilyich Tchaikowsky (1840-1893), Russian composer, composer of 6 symphonies and the o…
生物柴油	shēng wù chái yóu	biodiesel
火柴人	huǒ chái rén	stick figure; stick person
留得青山在，不怕没柴烧	liú de qīng shān zài , bù pà méi chái shāo	While the green hills last, there'll be wood to burn (idiom). Where there's life there's h…
柴门小户	chái mén xiǎo hù	woodcutter's cottage (idiom); poor person's hovel; fig. my humble house
大柴旦行政委员会	Dà chái dàn xíng zhèng wěi yuán huì	Da Qaidam county level subdivision of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture 海西蒙古族…
柴油机	chái yóu jī	diesel engine
大柴旦行政区	Dà chái dàn xíng zhèng qū	Da Qaidam county level subdivision of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan autonomous prefecture 海西蒙古族…
满口胡柴	mǎn kǒu hú chái	to spout nonsense; to bullshit endlessly
柴达木	Chái dá mù	Tsaidam or Qaidam basin (Mongolian: salt marsh), depression northeast of the Plateau of Ti…
柴达木盆地	Chái dá mù pén dì	Tsaidam or Qaidam basin (Mongolian: salt marsh), depression northeast of the Plateau of Ti…
柴鱼片	chái yú piàn	katsuobushi or dried bonito flakes (paper-thin shavings of preserved skipjack tuna)
纸火柴	zhǐ huǒ chái	matches made of cardboard
柴米油盐	chái mǐ yóu yán	(lit.) firewood, rice, oil and salt (idiom); (fig.) life's daily necessities
北柴胡	běi chái hú	honewort; Cryptotaenia japonica

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 此 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
此 sound part	cǐ	this, these; in this case, then
紫	zǐ	purple, violet; amethyst; surname
雌	cí	female; feminine; gentle, soft
些	xiē	little, few; rather, somewhat
眦	zì	eye socket; the corner of the eye
赀	zī	wealth, property; to estimate, to count
呲	cī	to grimace; to bare one's teeth
疵	cī	flaw, fault, defect; disease
觜	zī	beak
訾	zī	to criticize, to bad-mouth; defect; betrayal
龇	zī	to bare one's teeth; crooked teeth
茈	zǐ	a plant yielding a red dye
髭	zī	mustache