錢 meaning and stroke order
Money, currency, coins
How to write 錢, stroke by stroke
16 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
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- 9
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- 16
Meaning of 錢
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- coin
- money
- unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 兩|两[liang3]
How 錢 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Money.
釒 gives the meaning and 戔 hints at the sound.
Radical: 釒 (gold), shared by 135 characters on this site.
How to remember 錢
錢 combines the metal radical 釒 on the left with 戔 (jiān) on the right, which gives the sound. Think of old metal coins: money was made of metal, so 錢 (qián) means money.
錢 is the everyday word for money and appears in many common words like 钱包 (qiánbāo, wallet) and 零钱 (língqián, small change). To ask a price, people say 多少钱 (duōshao qián). Example: 这个多少钱？(Zhège duōshao qián?) How much is this?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 錢 with 浅/淺 (qiǎn, shallow) or 线/線 (xiàn, thread), which share a similar right side. Check the left part: only the metal radical 釒 means money. Also keep the second tone, qián, not qiǎn.
Common words with 錢
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 錢包 | qiánbāo | purse; wallet | HSK 1 |
| 價錢 | jiàqián | price | HSK 3 |
| 掙錢 | zhèngqián | to make money | HSK 5 |
| 賺錢 | zhuànqián | to earn money; moneymaking | HSK 6 |
| 金錢 | jīnqián | money; currency | HSK 6 |
| 省錢 | shěngqián | to save money | HSK 6 |
| 值錢 | zhíqián | valuable; costly | HSK 7-9 |
| 零錢 | língqián | change (of money); small change | HSK 7-9 |
| 錢財 | qiáncái | wealth; money | HSK 7-9 |
| 賠錢 | péiqián | to lose money; to suffer a financial loss; to pay for damages | HSK 7-9 |
| 掏錢 | tāo qián | to pay; to spend money | HSK 7-9 |
| 本錢 | běnqián | capital; (fig.) asset; advantage; the means (to do sth) | HSK 7-9 |
| 零花錢 | línghuāqián | pocket money; allowance | HSK 7-9 |
| 私房錢 | sīfángqián | secret purse; secret stash of money | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 錢
How many strokes are in 錢?
錢 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 錢 mean?
錢 (qián) means money, currency, coins. A common word with it is 钱包 (qiánbāo), meaning "purse; wallet".
How do you pronounce 錢?
錢 is pronounced qián, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 錢?
The radical of 錢 is 釒, which carries the idea of "gold". Dictionaries list 錢 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 錢?
錢 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 钱, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 钱 and 金钱?
钱 (qián) is the normal everyday word for money. 金钱 (jīnqián) is more formal or abstract and often appears when talking about money as a value, as in 金钱不是一切 (money is not everything).
Is 钱 used as a unit of weight?
Yes, in traditional measurement one 钱 is one tenth of a 两 (liǎng, tael). You may see it in traditional Chinese medicine recipes or when weighing gold, but in daily speech 钱 almost always means money.