Meaning
metal; money; gold
Chinese: 金属、黄金或钱财。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “jin” becomes a different word in each tone. 金 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
- 资金zī jīnfunds; capital
- 现金xiàn jīncash
- 金牌jīn páigold medal
- 黄金huáng jīngold; golden (opportunity); prime (time)
- 奖金jiǎng jīnpremium; award money; bonus
Example Sentence
这条金项链很漂亮。Zhè tiáo jīn xiàng liàn hěn piào liang.This gold necklace is very pretty.
这Zhèthis条tiáostrip金jīngold项链xiàng liànnecklace很hěnvery漂亮piào liangpretty。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
今 on top gives the sound, over 土 (earth) with two dots — nuggets of metal hidden in the ground. It means ‘metal / gold’ and is the radical 钅 in 银, 铁, 钱.
A way to remember it
Nuggets (the dots) buried in the earth — precious metal.
Easy to confuse with
- 全‘Whole’: a person (人) over 王, with no nugget dots — a different character.