桥 meaning and stroke order
Bridge
How to write 桥, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Meaning of 桥
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- bridge
How 桥 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 乔 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 桥
桥 combines 木 (wood) with 乔 (qiáo), which gives the sound. Picture a wooden plank laid across a stream, and the name qiáo tells you how to say it.
桥 means a bridge of any kind, from a small footbridge to a highway overpass, and its measure word is 座 (zuò). It also appears in figurative words like 桥梁 (qiáoliáng), meaning a bridge between people or cultures. Example: 河上有一座桥。(Hé shàng yǒu yí zuò qiáo.) There is a bridge over the river.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 乔 missing the top stroke, which turns it into 侨-like confusion, or they mix up 桥 (qiáo, bridge) with 侨 (qiáo, overseas Chinese), which has the person radical 亻 instead of 木. The tone is second tone, rising, so do not say it flat like qiāo.
Common words with 桥
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 桥梁 | qiáoliáng | bridge (lit. and fig.) | HSK 6 |
| 天桥 | tiānqiáo | overhead walkway; pedestrian bridge | HSK 7-9 |
| 立交桥 | lìjiāoqiáo | overpass; flyover | HSK 7-9 |
| 舰桥 | jiànqiáo | bridge (of a naval ship) | |
| 桥牌 | qiáopái | contract bridge (card game) | |
| 桥段 | qiáoduàn | (cinema, literature etc) scene; trope | |
| 吊桥 | diàoqiáo | drawbridge; suspension bridge |
桥 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 桥
How many strokes are in 桥?
桥 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 桥 mean?
桥 (qiáo) means bridge. A common word with it is 桥梁 (qiáoliáng), meaning "bridge (lit. and fig.)".
How do you pronounce 桥?
桥 is pronounced qiáo, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 桥?
The radical of 桥 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 桥 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 桥?
The traditional form of 桥 is 橋. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 桥 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 桥 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 桥 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What measure word do you use with 桥?
Use 座 (zuò), as in 一座桥 (yí zuò qiáo), one bridge. In casual speech some people also say 一条桥 (yì tiáo qiáo), but 座 is the standard choice.
What is the difference between 天桥 and 立交桥?
天桥 (tiānqiáo) is usually a pedestrian bridge that lets people walk over a busy road. 立交桥 (lìjiāoqiáo) is a road interchange or flyover built for cars, with roads crossing at different levels.