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钱

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coin; money; CL:筆|笔[bi3]; unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 兩|两[liang3]

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HSK 3.0
Level 1
Old HSK
Level 1
Strokes
10
Radical
金 +5
Structure
Left–right 左右
Traditional
錢
Common rank
#465
Unicode
U+94B1

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 钱 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

钅 meaning “money” + 戋 sound ( jiān )

Components 钅 戋

How to remember it

coin · Heisig RSH #373

金 gold + float

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 钱

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

WordPinyinMeaning
钱包 qián bāo purse; wallet
不名一钱 bù míng yī qián to be penniless
一手交钱,一手交货 yī shǒu jiāo qián , yī shǒu jiāo huò lit. one hand exchanges the cash, the other the goods (idiom); fig. to pay for what you wa…
一分钱一分货 yī fēn qián yī fēn huò you get what you pay for
马钱子 mǎ qián zǐ Strychnos nux-vomica
有钱人 yǒu qián rén rich person; the rich
钱可通神 qián kě tōng shén with money, you can do anything (idiom); money talks
四出文钱 sì chū wén qián coin minted in the reign of Emperor Ling of Han 漢靈帝|汉灵帝[Han4 Ling2 Di4], with a square hol…
有本钱 yǒu běn qián to be in a position to (take on a challenge etc)
见钱眼开 jiàn qián yǎn kāi to open one's eyes wide at the sight of profit (idiom); thinking of nothing but personal g…
钱能通神 qián néng tōng shén money is all-powerful; money can move God
一分钱两分货 yī fēn qián liǎng fēn huò high quality at bargain price
大钱 dà qián large sum of money; old Chinese type of coin of high denomination
一钱如命 yī qián rú mìng (idiom) stingy; penny-pinching
花钱受气 huā qián shòu qì (idiom) to have a bad experience as a customer; to encounter poor service
市钱 shì qián Chinese unit of weight equivalent to 5 grams
地钱 dì qián liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha)
小钱 xiǎo qián a small amount of money
有钱 yǒu qián well-off; wealthy
金钱 jīn qián money; currency

Sound family

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

CharacterPinyinMeaning
戋 sound part jiān small, narrow; tiny, little
线 xiàn line, thread, wire; clue, trail
残 cán to injure, to ruin, to spoil; cruel, oppressive, savage; disabled, incomplete
浅 qiǎn shallow, superficial
栈 zhàn warehouse; tavern, inn
践 jiàn to trample, to tread on, to walk over
笺 jiān note, memo, letter; stationery; comments
饯 jiàn to send off; farewell dinner; preserves