Meaning
white; snowy; empty; blank; bright; clear
Chinese: 白色、明白，也表示空白。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “bai” becomes a different word in each tone. 白 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 明白míng baiclear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible
- 白天bái tiāndaytime; during the day; day
- 白色bái sèwhite; fig. reactionary; anti-communist
- 白菜bái càiChinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis); sometimes used to refer to bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)
- 白酒bái jiǔbaijiu, a spirit usually distilled from sorghum; (Tw) white wine
Example Sentence
天上飘着白白的云。Tiān shàng piāo zhe bái bái de yún.White clouds are floating in the sky.
天上Tiān shàngthe sky飘piāocomplacent着zhe(ongoing action)白白bái báiin vain的deof云yún(classical) to say。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The origin is debated — often linked to a grain of rice or the first pale light of the rising sun. For learners it helps to see it as 日 (sun) with a stroke added on top.
A way to remember it
The sun (日) with a ray on top — pale white light.