Meaning of 八
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- eight
How to use 八
八 (bā) is the everyday word for eight, used in counting, dates, prices and phone numbers. It also appears in many idioms where 七 and 八 together suggest messiness, such as 乱七八糟 (luànqībāzāo). Example: 我八点上课。(Wǒ bā diǎn shàngkè.) I have class at eight o'clock.
八 (bā) is just two strokes leaning away from each other, like two hands parting or a path splitting in two. Picture the number eight as something that easily divides in half, and the two separating strokes will stick.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 八 (bā) with 人 (rén, person) or 入 (rù, enter). In 八 the two strokes do not touch at the top. In 人 the strokes join, and in 入 the right stroke is the longer, dominant one.
八 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
八 bā · eight · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 八.
| 乱七八糟 | luànqībāzāo | (idiom) chaotic; in disorder; muddled |
| 八卦 | bāguà | the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]; gossip |
| 四面八方 | sìmiàn-bāfāng | (idiom) all directions; all around |
| 七嘴八舌 | qīzuǐ-bāshé | lively discussion with everybody talking at once |
| 横七竖八 | héngqī-shùbā | in disorder; at sixes and sevens (idiom) |
| 五花八门 | wǔhuā-bāmén | myriad; all kinds of |
| 王八蛋 | wángbādàn | bastard; son of a bitch |
| 胡说八道 | húshuōbādào | to talk rubbish |
| 十八 | shíbā | eighteen; 18 |
| 三八 | sānbā | International Women's Day 婦女節|妇女节[Fu4 nu:3 jie2], 8th March; foolish |
| 八成 | bāchéng | eighty percent; most probably |
| 王八 | wángba | softshell turtle; cuckold |
Questions about 八
What does 八 mean?
八 (bā) means "eight" and is used as a numeral.
How do you write 八?
八 is made of 1 character: 八 (2 strokes). That is 2 strokes in total.
Is 八 an HSK word?
Yes. 八 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does the tone of 八 change before other syllables?
In standard Mandarin 八 is normally read with first tone, bā. Some speakers say it with a rising tone before a fourth-tone syllable, as in 八个 (bá ge), but bā is always correct and is the form taught in textbooks.
Why does 八卦 (bāguà) mean gossip?
八卦 originally refers to the eight trigrams of the Book of Changes. In modern casual speech it has also come to mean gossip, or being nosy about other people's affairs, as in 你真八卦 (nǐ zhēn bāguà), you're such a gossip.