HSK 4 · Objects

材料 cáiliào “(raw) material” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 材料 means

  1. (raw) material
  2. data
  3. (fig.) person who has the potential to do the job

How to say 材料

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale材cái2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale料liào4th tone, falling

材料 in a sentence

  1. 今天我要去买些材料。

    Jīntiān wǒ yào qù mǎi xiē cáiliào.

    I’m going to buy some materials today.

    Sentence #474795 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她在为一本书收集材料。

    Tā zài wèi yì běn shū shōují cáiliào.

    She’s collecting material for a book.

    Sentence #10613732 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 那些材料都是可回收且可再利用的。

    Nàxiē cáiliào dōu shì kěhuíshōu qiě kě zài lìyòng de.

    Those materials are all recyclable and reusable.

    Sentence #4264409 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 材料 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 材 (cái) with each of its parts in a different colour
材cáimaterial
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 才ability · cáiSound part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 才 (cái) hints at the sound. Compare it with cái.

The character 料 (liào) with each of its parts in a different colour
料liàomaterial
  • 米rice · mǐ
  • 斗dipper · dǒu

Memory aidRice 米 measured with a dipper 斗: material, to estimate.

How to write 材料

材 7 strokes · 料 10 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

材料 (cáiliào) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 材料 (cáiliào). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 材料

Words with 材

身材shēncái · stature教材jiàocái · teaching material题材tícái · subject matter器材qìcái · equipment

Words with 料

饮料yǐnliào · beverage塑料袋sùliàodài · plastic bag资料zīliào · material原料yuánliào · raw material调料tiáoliào · seasoning意料yìliào · expectation预料yùliào · to expect不料búliào · unexpectedly

More words: Everyday Things

签证qiānzhèng · visa百分之bǎifēnzhī · per cent表格biǎogé · form部分bùfen · part场chǎng · measure word for events: a spell (of rain)窗户chuānghu · window答案dá'àn · answer刀dāo · knife

FAQs

材料 (cáiliào) means “(raw) material” or “data”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it cáiliào: cái with a 2nd tone, then liào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 材料 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type cailiao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 材料 from the suggestions. Typing cailiao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
材料 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.