TraceHanzi

球 meaning in English

qiú

ball; sphere

HSK 1noun11 strokes

Meaning of 球

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

qiú
  1. ball
  2. sphere
  3. globe
  4. ball game
  5. match

Measure word: 個|个

qiú
  1. ball used for playing games (variant of 球[qiu2])

How to use 球

球 means a ball or anything round like a globe, and it often stands for ball games in general. It combines with other words to name sports and places, as in 篮球 (lánqiú) basketball and 球场 (qiúchǎng) sports ground. Example: 我们下午去打球。(Wǒmen xiàwǔ qù dǎ qiú.) We are going to play ball this afternoon.

球 (qiú) has the jade radical 王 on the left and 求 (qiú) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a round, polished jade bead that everyone wants (求 means to seek), and you have a ball.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 球 (qiú) with 求 (qiú, to ask or seek) because they sound the same and share a part. Remember that the ball needs the 王 on the left.

球 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā从cóng没méi打dǎ过guò高gāo尔ěr夫fū球qiú。
He has never played golf.
他tā父fù亲qīn不bù打dǎ高gāo尔ěr夫fū球qiú。
His father doesn't play golf.
你nǐ可kě以yǐ想xiǎng象xiàng在zài月yuè球qiú上shàng行háng走zǒu吗ma？
Can you imagine walking on the moon?
我wǒ年nián轻qīng的de时shí候hòu常cháng常cháng去qù打dǎ棒bàng球qiú。
I often played baseball when I was young.
我wǒ们men看kàn了le电diàn视shì上shàng的de棒bàng球qiú比bǐ赛sài。
We watched a baseball game on television.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

球 qiú · ball · 11 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11

Related words

Words that share a character with 球.

打球dǎ qiúto play a ball sport
地球dìqiúthe earth
球队qiúduìsports team (basketball, soccer, football etc)
球场qiúchǎngstadium; sports ground
篮球lánqiúbasketball
网球wǎngqiútennis; tennis ball
排球páiqiúvolleyball
球鞋qiúxiéathletic shoes
全球quánqiúthe whole world; worldwide; global
足球zúqiúsoccer; football; a soccer ball; a football
球迷qiúmífan (ball sports)
气球qìqiúballoon

Questions about 球

What does 球 mean?

球 (qiú) means "ball; sphere" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 球?

球 is made of 1 character: 球 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.

Is 球 an HSK word?

Yes. 球 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

Which verb do I use with 球 for playing sports?

Use 打 (dǎ) for most ball sports played with hands or rackets, like 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) and 打网球 (dǎ wǎngqiú). Football is the exception: you say 踢足球 (tī zúqiú), because 踢 means to kick.

Can 球 mean a match or game?

Yes. 球 can refer to a ball game itself, for example 看球 (kàn qiú) means to watch a game. People also say 球队 (qiúduì) for a sports team.

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