HSK 3 · Verbs

借 jiè “lend” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 借 means

  1. lend
  2. borrow
  3. excuse
  4. (used in combination with 给 or 出 etc) to lend
  5. to make use of
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to avail oneself of
  • (sometimes followed by 着) by
  • with

How to say 借

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale借jiè4th tone, falling

借 in a sentence

  1. 你能借我这本书吗？

    Nǐ néng jiè wǒ zhè běn shū ma?

    Could you lend me this book?

    Sentence #1416176 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 如果你需要铅笔，我借你一支。

    Rúguǒ nǐ xūyào qiānbǐ, wǒ jiè nǐ yì zhī.

    If you need a pencil, I’ll lend you one.

    Sentence #808253 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我还了从图书馆借的书，又借了些新的。

    Wǒ huán le cóng túshūguǎn jiè de shū, yòu jiè le xiē xīn de.

    I returned the books I’d borrowed from the library and borrowed some new ones.

    Sentence #333104 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 借 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 借 (jiè) with each of its parts in a different colour
借jièto borrow
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 昔past · xīSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 昔 (xī) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiè.

How to write 借

借 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 借

Words with 借

借口jièkǒu · to use as an excuse借鉴jièjiàn · to learn from借助jièzhù · to rely on

More words: Common Verbs

教jiāo · teach接jiē · connect结婚jiéhūn · get married结束jiéshù · to end经过jīngguò · to pass哭kū · cry离开líkāi · leave留学liúxué · study abroad

FAQs

借 (jiè) means “lend” or “borrow”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it jiè: jiè with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 借 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 借 from the suggestions. Typing jie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
借 is an HSK 3 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.