投 tóu — to throw; to send
他把球投进了篮筐。Tā bǎ qiú tóu jìn le lán kuāng.He threw the ball into the basket.
Common words: 投资 (tóu zī)、投入 (tóu rù)、投诉 (tóu sù)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to throw"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to throw", including 投 (tóu), 丢 (diū), 抛 (pāo). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to throw" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 投 (tóu), 丢 (diū), 抛 (pāo) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span tóu, diū, pāo — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 投 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 投 tóuto throw; to sendUseful words: 投资, 投入
- 丢 diūto lose; to put aside; to throwUseful words: 丢失, 丢人
- 抛 pāoto throw; to toss; to fling; to cast; to abandonUseful words: 抛弃, 抛开
Common words for these 3 "to throw" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 投 (tóu) — so "to throw" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
投资tóu zīinvestment; to invest投入tóu rùto throw into; to put into; to throw oneself into; to participate in投诉tóu sùto lodge a complaint丢失diū shīto lose; to misplace丢人diū rénto lose face丢三落四diū sān là sìforgetful; empty-headed抛弃pāo qìto abandon; to discard; to renounce; to dump (sb)抛开pāo kāito throw out; to get rid of抛出pāo chūto toss; to throw out
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "to throw".
丢 diū — to lose; to put aside; to throw
我不小心把车票丢了。Wǒ bù xiǎo xīn bǎ chē piào diū le.I accidentally lost my ticket.
Common words: 丢失 (diū shī)、丢人 (diū rén)、丢三落四 (diū sān là sì)
抛 pāo — to throw; to toss; to fling; to cast; to abandon
他把石子抛进了河里。Tā bǎ shí zǐ pāo jìn le hé lǐ.He threw the pebble into the river.
Common words: 抛弃 (pāo qì)、抛开 (pāo kāi)、抛出 (pāo chū)
All 3 characters
Open 投、丢、抛 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.