Meaning
(surname); coin; money
Chinese: 钱财、货币；也可作姓氏。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “qian” becomes a different word in each tone. 钱 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
- 钱包qián bāopurse; wallet
- 价钱jià qianprice
- 零钱líng qiánchange (of money); small change; pocket money
- 零花钱líng huā qiánpocket money; allowance
- 挣钱zhèng qiánto make money
Example Sentence
这件衣服花了我不少钱。Zhè jiàn yī fu huā le wǒ bù shǎo qián.This piece of clothing cost me quite a lot of money.
这Zhèthis件jiànitem衣服yī fuclothes花huāflower了le(completed action)我wǒI不少bù shǎomany钱qiáncoin。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The metal radical 钅 (meaning) plus 戋 (jiān, sound): pieces of metal used as currency — ‘money’. Simplified from 錢.
A way to remember it
Metal (钅) + the sound 戋 — money.
Easy to confuse with
- 线‘Thread’: shares the 戋 sound, but with the silk radical 纟.