Meaning
knife
Chinese: 刀。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “dao” becomes a different word in each tone. 刀 is the 1st 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
- 剪刀jiǎn dāoscissors
- 大刀dà dāobroadsword; large knife; machete
- 刀子dāo ziknife
- 小刀xiǎo dāoknife
- 主刀zhǔ dāoto act as the chief surgeon; chief surgeon
Example Sentence
切菜的时候要小心刀。Qiē cài de shí hou yào xiǎo xīn dāo.Be careful with the knife when cutting vegetables.
切Qiēto cut菜càivegetable的deof时候shí houtime要yàoto want小心xiǎo xīnto be careful刀dāo(slang) (loanword) dollar。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a knife, showing the blade and handle. As a right-hand radical it is written 刂, as in 刚, 别, 到.
A way to remember it
A curved blade with a handle — a single knife.
Easy to confuse with
- 力‘Strength’: similar outline, but with an extra stroke that gives it the sense of effort.