Meaning of 赛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to compete
- competition
- match
- to surpass
- better than
- superior to
- to excel
How to use 赛
赛 rarely stands alone in everyday speech. It mostly appears in words like 比赛 (bǐsài), 决赛 (juésài) and 参赛 (cānsài). As a verb meaning "better than," it shows up in set phrases and lively writing: 他跑得赛过兔子。(Tā pǎo de sàiguò tùzi.) He runs faster than a rabbit.
The bottom of 赛 (sài) is 贝 (bèi), the shell that stood for money and prizes. Picture people crowding under a roof to compete for a valuable prize.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 赛 (sài) with 塞 (sāi, to stuff), which has the same top but 土 at the bottom instead of 贝. Remember that the prize 贝 means competition, and the earth 土 means plugging something up.
赛 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.
赛 sài · to compete · 14 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 赛.
| 比赛 | bǐsài | competition (sports etc); match |
| 决赛 | juésài | finals (of a competition) |
| 竞赛 | jìngsài | to compete; to race; contest; competition; match; race |
| 大奖赛 | dàjiǎngsài | grand prix |
| 大赛 | dàsài | grand contest |
| 参赛 | cānsài | to compete; to take part in a competition |
| 联赛 | liánsài | (sports) league; league tournament |
| 赛场 | sàichǎng | racetrack; field (for athletics competition) |
| 半决赛 | bànjuésài | semifinals |
| 赛车 | sàichē | auto race; cycle race |
| 赛跑 | sàipǎo | race (running); to race (running) |
| 预赛 | yùsài | preliminary competition; to hold preliminary heats |
Questions about 赛
What does 赛 mean?
赛 (sài) means "to compete; competition" and is used as a verb.
How do you write 赛?
赛 is made of 1 character: 赛 (14 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 赛 an HSK word?
Yes. 赛 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 赛 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 赛 is written 賽.
What is the difference between 比赛 and 竞赛?
比赛 (bǐsài) is the everyday word for any match or game, especially sports. 竞赛 (jìngsài) sounds more formal and is often used for academic or organized contests, such as a math competition.
How do I say "to take part in a match" in Chinese?
You can say 参加比赛 (cānjiā bǐsài) or use the shorter 参赛 (cānsài). For example, 他明年想参赛。(Tā míngnián xiǎng cānsài.) He wants to compete next year.