Meaning of 小偷儿
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- erhua form of 小偷[xiao3 tou1]
How to use 小偷儿
小偷儿 means a thief or pickpocket and is the spoken, northern-flavored version of 小偷 (xiǎotōu). You hear it most in casual Beijing-style speech. Example: 地铁上有小偷儿，小心你的钱包。(Dìtiě shang yǒu xiǎotōur, xiǎoxīn nǐ de qiánbāo.) There are thieves on the subway, watch your wallet.
小偷儿 is built from 小 (xiǎo, small) plus 偷 (tōu, to steal), so a thief is a "small stealer" who sneaks things away. The 儿 ending just adds the casual northern erhua sound, like the 儿 in 哪儿 (nǎr).
Common mistake: Learners often pronounce 儿 as a separate syllable, saying xiǎo tōu ér. In erhua the r merges into the previous syllable, so it sounds like xiǎotōur, two syllables total. Also, 偷 is first tone (tōu), so do not let it drift to a falling tone.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
小 xiǎo · small · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
偷 tōu · to steal · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
儿 ér · son · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 小偷儿.
| 这儿 | zhèr | here |
| 小姐 | xiǎojiě | young lady; miss |
| 儿子 | érzi | son |
| 哪儿 | nǎr | where?; wherever; anywhere; somewhere |
| 小时 | xiǎoshí | hour |
| 女儿 | nǚ'ér | daughter |
| 那儿 | nàr | there |
| 一会儿 | yīhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to |
| 没事儿 | méishìr | to have spare time; free from work |
| 一点儿 | yīdiǎnr | erhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3] |
| 小学 | xiǎoxué | elementary school; primary school |
Questions about 小偷儿
What does 小偷儿 mean?
小偷儿 (xiǎotōur) means "erhua form of 小偷[xiao3 tou1]" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 小偷儿?
小偷儿 is made of 3 characters: 小 (3 strokes), 偷 (11 strokes), 儿 (2 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 小偷儿 an HSK word?
Yes. 小偷儿 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 小偷儿 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 小偷儿 is written 小偷兒.
Is 小偷儿 different in meaning from 小偷?
No, they mean the same thing. 小偷儿 is just the erhua form common in northern China, while 小偷 is the standard form used everywhere and in writing.
How do I say "to steal" or "something was stolen" with this word?
Use the verb 偷 (tōu) for to steal, as in 他偷了我的手机 (tā tōu le wǒ de shǒujī), he stole my phone. For being stolen, say 我的钱包被偷了 (wǒ de qiánbāo bèi tōu le), my wallet was stolen.