贝 meaning and stroke order
Sea shell; money, currency
How to write 贝, stroke by stroke
4 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
Meaning of 贝
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cowrie
- shellfish
- currency (archaic)
How 贝 is built
Pictographic character. A sea shell, once used as currency.
How to remember 贝
贝 is a picture of a cowrie shell: the outer frame 冂 is the shell's rounded edge, and 人 inside looks like the split opening on its underside. Since shells were once used as money, think of 贝 as a little coin from the sea.
贝 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words like 贝壳 (bèiké, shell), 扇贝 (shànbèi, scallop) and the very common 宝贝 (bǎobèi), which means treasure and is also used to call a child or partner "baby." Example: 我的宝贝在哪儿？ (Wǒ de bǎobèi zài nǎr?) Where is my baby?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 贝 with 见 (jiàn, to see), which has a similar top but ends in a curved hook stroke instead of the short dot-like stroke at the bottom of 贝. Also remember the tone is fourth, bèi, not third.
Common words with 贝
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 宝贝 | bǎobèi | treasured object; treasure | HSK 4 |
| 贝壳 | bèiké | shell (of a mollusk) | HSK 7-9 |
| 宝贝儿 | bǎobèir | erhua variant of 寶貝|宝贝[bao3 bei4] | |
| 贝克 | Bèikè | becquerel (unit of radioactivity, symbol Bq) (abbr. for 貝克勒爾|贝克勒尔[bei4 ke4 le4 er3]) | |
| 贝斯 | Bèisī | (loanword) bass (esp. bass guitar) | |
| 拷贝 | kǎobèi | copy; to copy (loanword) | |
| 贝塔 | bèitǎ | beta (Greek letter Β, β) | |
| 扇贝 | shànbèi | scallop (genus Pecten) | |
| 心肝宝贝 | xīngānbǎobèi | precious darling (often refers to one's child); sweetheart | |
| 贝斯手 | bèisīshǒu | bassist; bass player |
贝 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 贝
Learning 贝 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 贝
How many strokes are in 贝?
贝 is written with 4 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 贝 mean?
贝 (bèi) means sea shell; money, currency. A common word with it is 宝贝 (bǎobèi), meaning "treasured object; treasure".
How do you pronounce 贝?
贝 is pronounced bèi, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the traditional form of 贝?
The traditional form of 贝 is 貝. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 贝 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 贝 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 贝 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Why do so many money-related characters contain 贝?
Because cowrie shells were once used as currency, 贝 became a component in characters about money and value. Examples include 财 (cái, wealth), 货 (huò, goods), 贵 (guì, expensive) and 买 in its traditional form 買.
Is 贝 used to write foreign words?
Yes. Because of its sound, 贝 appears in many loanwords, such as 拷贝 (kǎobèi, copy), 贝斯 (bèisī, bass guitar) and 贝塔 (bèitǎ, beta). In these words it carries sound only, not the meaning of shell.