HSK 5 · Objects

火柴 huǒchái “match (for lighting fire)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 火柴 means

  1. match (for lighting fire)

Measure word 根 gēn or 盒 hé · 一根火柴 yì gēn huǒchái

How to say 火柴

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale火huǒ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale柴chái2nd tone, rising

火柴 in a sentence

  1. 您有火柴吗？

    Nín yǒu huǒchái ma?

    Do you have a match?

    Sentence #676993 from Tatoeba

  2. 他划了一根火柴。

    Tā huá le yì gēn huǒchái.

    He struck a match.

    Sentence #825982 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 最上面的抽屉里应该有一盒火柴。

    Zuì shàngmiàn de chōuti lǐ yīnggāi yǒu yì hé huǒchái.

    There should be a box of matches in the top drawer.

    Sentence #6956948 from Tatoeba

How 火柴 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 火 (huǒ) with each of its parts in a different colour
火huǒfire
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 人person · rén

Memory aidDrawn from rising flames.

The character 柴 (chái) with each of its parts in a different colour
柴cháifirewood
  • 此this · cǐSound part
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 此 (cǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with chái.

How to write 火柴

火 4 strokes · 柴 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 火柴

Words with 火

火车huǒchē · train火车站huǒchēzhàn · train station火huǒ · fire着火zháohuǒ · to catch fire恼火nǎohuǒ · annoyed火箭huǒjiàn · rocket火药huǒyào · gunpowder火焰huǒyàn · flame涮火锅shuànhuǒguō · to eat hotpot

Words with 柴

柴油cháiyóu · diesel

More words: Objects & Materials

管子guǎnzi · tube光盘guāngpán · compact disc (CD)柜台guìtái · sales counter灰尘huīchén · dust夹子jiāzi · clip剪刀jiǎndāo · scissors胶水jiāoshuǐ · glue金属jīnshǔ · metal

FAQs

火柴 (huǒchái) means “match (for lighting fire)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it huǒchái: huǒ with a 3rd tone, then chái with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 火柴 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 根 (gēn) or 盒 (hé). For example, one match (for lighting fire) is 一根火柴 (yì gēn huǒchái).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type huochai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 火柴 from the suggestions. Typing huochai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
火柴 is an HSK 5 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.