台 meaning in English
(classical) you (in letters); variant of 臺|台[tai2]
Meaning of 台
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (classical) you (in letters)
- variant of 臺|台[tai2]
- Taiwan (abbr.)
- surname Tai
- desk; table; counter
- platform
- stage
- terrace
- stand
- support
- station
- broadcasting station
- classifier for vehicles or machines
How to use 台
台 means a raised platform, stage, or station, and appears in words like 舞台 (wǔtái, stage), 阳台 (yángtái, balcony) and 电视台 (diànshìtái, TV station). It is also a common measure word for machines and vehicles: 一台电脑 (yì tái diànnǎo) means one computer.
台 has a small 厶 on top of a 口 (mouth). Picture a person standing up on a raised platform with their mouth open, speaking to a crowd from the stage.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 台 with 治 (zhì) or 始 (shǐ), which contain 台 as a part but have extra components on the left. Also, do not use 个 for machines in careful speech; 一台洗衣机 (yì tái xǐyījī, one washing machine) sounds more natural than 一个洗衣机.
台 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.
台 tái · you · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 台.
| 舞台 | wǔtái | (lit. and fig.) stage; arena |
| 电台 | diàntái | transmitter-receiver; broadcasting station |
| 电视台 | diànshìtái | television station |
| 台上 | táishàng | on stage |
| 阳台 | yángtái | balcony; porch |
| 台阶 | táijiē | steps; flight of steps |
| 窗台 | chuāngtái | windowsill; window ledge |
| 台风 | táifēng | stage presence, poise |
| 上台 | shàngtái | to rise to power (in politics); to go on stage (in the theater) |
| 平台 | píngtái | platform; terrace |
| 站台 | zhàntái | platform (at a railway station); (Tw) (of an influential person) to publicly endorse or ca |
| 台灯 | táidēng | desk lamp; table lamp |
Questions about 台
What does 台 mean?
台 (tái) means "(classical) you (in letters); variant of 臺|台[tai2]" and is used as a noun and measure word.
How do you write 台?
台 is made of 1 character: 台 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 台 an HSK word?
Yes. 台 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 台 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 台 is written 台|臺.
What does 台 mean when talking about places, like 台湾?
As a capital letter word, 台 (Tái) is the short form for Taiwan, as in 台湾 (Táiwān). You will see it in phrases like 台北 (Táiběi), the city of Taipei.
Which things can I count with the measure word 台?
Use 台 for machines and devices such as computers, TVs, washing machines, and cars. It can also count stage performances, as in 一台戏 (yì tái xì, one stage show).