坝 meaning and stroke order
Dam; dike; embankment
How to write 坝, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 坝
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dam
- dike; embankment
- (used in place names) plain; flatland
- (dialect) sandbar; shoal
How 坝 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 贝 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 坝
坝 is earth 土 (tǔ) piled up beside 贝 (bèi), which hints at the sound bà. Picture people piling earth high to hold back water, and that wall of earth is a dam.
坝 usually appears in compounds like 大坝 (dàbà), 水坝 (shuǐbà) and 堤坝 (dībà), and it is rarely used alone in everyday speech. In southwestern place names it can mean a flat plain. Example: 这座大坝很高。(Zhè zuò dàbà hěn gāo.) This dam is very tall.
Common mistake: Learners often read 坝 as bèi because of the 贝 component, but the correct reading is bà with a fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 坎 (kǎn), which shares the 土 side but means a ridge or threshold.
Common words with 坝
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
坝 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 坝
How many strokes are in 坝?
坝 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 坝 mean?
坝 (bà) means dam; dike; embankment. A common word with it is 堤坝 (dībà), meaning "dam; dike".
How do you pronounce 坝?
坝 is pronounced bà, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 坝?
The radical of 坝 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 坝 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 坝?
The traditional form of 坝 is 垻 and 壩. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 坝 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 坝 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 坝 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 坝 and 堤?
坝 (bà) is usually a barrier built across a river to block or store water. 堤 (dī) is a dike or levee running along a river or coast to keep water from flooding. 堤坝 (dībà) combines both as a general word for these structures.
Why does 坝 appear in place names like 坝子?
In southwestern China, especially Yunnan and Guizhou, 坝子 (bàzi) means a small flat basin surrounded by mountains. This is the plain or flatland sense of 坝, and it shows up in many local place names.