钞 meaning and stroke order
Bank note, paper money; to counterfeit
How to write 钞, stroke by stroke
9 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 钞
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- money
- paper money
- variant of 抄[chao1]
How 钞 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Money.
钅 gives the meaning and 少 hints at the sound.
Radical: 钅 (gold), shared by 223 characters on this site.
How to remember 钞
钞 (chāo) is built from 钅 (metal) for meaning and 少 (shǎo) for sound. Picture money that started as metal coins, and remember that 少 gives the "-ao" sound.
钞 almost never appears alone in modern Chinese. You mostly meet it in 钞票 (chāopiào), a slightly formal or written word for paper money, and in words like 验钞机 (yànchāojī) for a counterfeit note detector. Example: 他从钱包里拿出一张钞票。(Tā cóng qiánbāo lǐ ná chū yì zhāng chāopiào.) He took a bank note out of his wallet.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 钞 (chāo, money) with 抄 (chāo, to copy), since they sound the same. Use 抄 with the hand radical 扌 for copying, as in 抄作业 (chāo zuòyè), and use 钞 with the metal radical 钅 for money.
Common words with 钞
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 钞票 | chāopiào | paper money; a bill (e.g. 100 yuan) | HSK 7-9 |
钞 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 钞
How many strokes are in 钞?
钞 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 钞 mean?
钞 (chāo) means bank note, paper money; to counterfeit. A common word with it is 钞票 (chāopiào), meaning "paper money; a bill (e.g. 100 yuan)".
How do you pronounce 钞?
钞 is pronounced chāo, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 钞?
The radical of 钞 is 钅, which carries the idea of "gold". Dictionaries list 钞 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 钞?
The traditional form of 钞 is 鈔. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 钞 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 钞 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 钞 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 钞票 the normal word for money in everyday speech?
Not usually. In daily conversation people say 钱 (qián). 钞票 refers specifically to paper bills and sounds a bit more formal, though some speakers, especially in Shanghai, use it casually.
Why does the dictionary say 钞 can mean to counterfeit or copy?
In older texts 钞 was used as a variant of 抄 (chāo), which meant to copy or to seize. In modern standard Chinese you should write 抄 for those meanings and keep 钞 for money.