棒 meaning and stroke order
Stick; club; cudgel
How to write 棒, stroke by stroke
12 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 棒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- stick
- club
- cudgel
- smart
- capable
- strong
How 棒 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 奉 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 棒
棒 (bàng) is pictophonetic: 木 (wood) on the left gives the meaning, and 奉 (fèng) on the right hints at the sound. Picture a wooden stick held up in both hands, like someone offering a club.
棒 names stick-shaped things, as in 棒球 (bàngqiú) baseball and 冰棒 (bīngbàng) popsicle. In everyday speech it is very common as praise meaning great or excellent. Example: 你说得真棒。(Nǐ shuō de zhēn bàng.) You speak really well.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 棒 with 捧 (pěng, to hold in both hands). They share 奉, but 捧 has the hand radical 扌 and a third tone. Another error is writing the right side as 奏 or 春 instead of 奉.
Common words with 棒
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
棒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 棒
How many strokes are in 棒?
棒 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 棒 mean?
棒 (bàng) means stick; club; cudgel. A common word with it is 棒球 (bàngqiú), meaning "baseball".
How do you pronounce 棒?
棒 is pronounced bàng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 棒?
The radical of 棒 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 棒 under this radical.
Is 棒 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 棒 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Is 棒 used to praise people or only things?
Both. You can say 你真棒 (nǐ zhēn bàng) to praise a person, and 这个主意很棒 (zhège zhǔyi hěn bàng) for an idea. It is warm and informal, so it suits friends, children and casual talk.
What is the difference between 棒 and 棍 (gùn)?
Both can mean stick, and 棍子 (gùnzi) and 棒子 (bàngzi) overlap in meaning. Only 棒 is also used as praise meaning great. It also appears in fixed words like 棒球 and 冰棒, where 棍 is not used.