HSK 5 · Objects

剪刀 jiǎndāo “scissors” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 剪刀 means

  1. scissors

Measure word 把 bǎ · 一把剪刀 yì bǎ jiǎndāo

How to say 剪刀

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale剪jiǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale刀dāo1st tone, high and level

剪刀 in a sentence

  1. 我需要一把剪刀。

    Wǒ xūyào yì bǎ jiǎndāo.

    I need a pair of scissors.

    Sentence #10268719 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 这把剪刀不好使。

    Zhè bǎ jiǎndāo bù hǎoshǐ.

    These scissors don’t cut well.

    Sentence #1733453 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 理发师正在用剪刀剪头发。

    Lǐfàshī zhèngzài yòng jiǎndāo jiǎn tóufa.

    The hairdresser is cutting hair with scissors.

    Sentence #3669418 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 剪刀 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 剪 (jiǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
剪jiǎnscissors or similar tool
  • 前in front · qiánSound part
  • 刀knife · dāoMeaning part

刀 hints at the meaning (knife); 前 (qián) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiǎn.

The character 刀 (dāo) drawn as one shape
刀dāoknife; blade; single-edged sword

刀 is a single shape of 2 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 剪刀

剪 11 strokes · 刀 2 strokes

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

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

Words related to 剪刀

Words with 剪

剪彩jiǎncǎi · to cut the ribbon (at an opening ceremony)

Words with 刀

刀dāo · knife

More words: Objects & Materials

柜台guìtái · sales counter灰尘huīchén · dust火柴huǒchái · match (for lighting fire)夹子jiāzi · clip胶水jiāoshuǐ · glue金属jīnshǔ · metal铃líng · (small) bell零件língjiàn · part

FAQs

剪刀 (jiǎndāo) means “scissors”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it jiǎndāo: jiǎn with a 3rd tone, then dāo with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 剪刀 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 把 (bǎ). For example, one scissors is 一把剪刀 (yì bǎ jiǎndāo).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiandao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 剪刀 from the suggestions. Typing jiandao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
剪刀 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.