牌 meaning in English
signboard; plaque; plate; tablet (CL:塊|块[kuai4]); brand; trademark
Meaning of 牌
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- signboard; plaque; plate; tablet (CL:塊|块[kuai4])
- brand; trademark
- mahjong tile; domino; playing card (CL:張|张[zhang1])
- (bound form) fixed pattern for lyrics or set melody in classical poetry or music (used in 詞牌|词牌[ci2 pai2] and 曲牌[qu3 pai2])
How to use 牌
牌 covers flat objects with information on them: signs, plates, tags, medals, and cards or tiles in games. It also means brand, as in 品牌 (pǐnpái) and 名牌 (míngpái). Example: 他喜欢买名牌衣服。(Tā xǐhuan mǎi míngpái yīfu.) He likes to buy brand-name clothes.
牌 combines 片 (piàn), a flat slice of wood, with 卑 (bēi), which hints at the sound. Picture a flat wooden board with writing on it, hung up as a sign or plaque.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 爿 or 牛 instead of 片, or confuse 牌 with 啤 (pí) in 啤酒 (píjiǔ, beer), which shares the 卑 part but has 口 on the left. Remember that 牌 has a second tone, pái, not pí.
牌 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.
牌 pái · signboard · 12 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 牌.
| 牌子 | páizi | sign; trademark |
| 金牌 | jīnpái | gold medal |
| 银牌 | yínpái | silver medal |
| 名牌儿 | míngpáir | erhua form of 名牌[ming2 pai2] |
| 品牌 | pǐnpái | brand; brand name |
| 车牌 | chēpái | vehicle license plate |
| 打牌 | dǎpái | to play mahjong or cards |
| 铜牌 | tóngpái | bronze medal; bronze plaque bearing a business name or logo etc |
| 王牌 | wángpái | (card games) trump card; (fig.) ace; star player; top performer; best asset; secret weapon |
| 招牌 | zhāopai | signboard; shop sign |
| 牌照 | páizhào | (business) license; vehicle license |
| 奖牌 | jiǎngpái | medal (awarded as a prize) |
Questions about 牌
What does 牌 mean?
牌 (pái) means "signboard; plaque; plate; tablet (CL:塊|块[kuai4]); brand; trademark" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 牌?
牌 is made of 1 character: 牌 (12 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 牌 an HSK word?
Yes. 牌 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say play cards in Chinese?
Say 打牌 (dǎ pái) for playing cards or mahjong in general. A single playing card is 一张牌 (yì zhāng pái), and a deck of playing cards is 扑克牌 (pūkèpái).
What is the difference between 牌 and 牌子?
牌子 (páizi) is the everyday standalone word for a sign or a brand, as in 这是什么牌子？(Zhè shì shénme páizi?) What brand is this? 牌 alone is more common inside compounds like 车牌 (chēpái) and 金牌 (jīnpái), and in card game contexts.