HSK 5 · Verbs

借口 jièkǒu “to use as an excuse” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 借口 means

  1. to use as an excuse
  2. excuse
  3. pretext

How to say 借口

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale借jiè4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale口kǒu3rd tone, dipping

借口 in a sentence

  1. 我没有借口。

    Wǒ méiyǒu jièkǒu.

    I have no excuse.

    Sentence #406687 from Tatoeba

  2. 他为迟到找了很多的借口。

    Tā wèi chídào zhǎo le hěn duō de jièkǒu.

    He made many excuses for being late.

    Sentence #801974 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 这只不过是个借口。

    Zhè zhǐbuguò shì ge jièkǒu.

    That’s just an excuse.

    Sentence #385484 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 借口 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.

The character 口 (kǒu) with each of its parts in a different colour
口kǒumouth
  • 冂down box · jiōng
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidDrawn from an open mouth.

How to write 借口

借 10 strokes · 口 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 借口

Words with 借

借jiè · lend借鉴jièjiàn · to learn from借助jièzhù · to rely on

Words with 口

门口ménkǒu · doorway口kǒu · mouth路口lùkǒu · intersection入口rùkǒu · entrance口味kǒuwèi · taste胃口wèikǒu · appetite出口chūkǒu · exit进口jìnkǒu · to import人口rénkǒu · population可口kěkǒu · tasty

More words: Thinking & Talking

记忆jìyì · to remember纪念jìniàn · to commemorate假装jiǎzhuāng · to feign接待jiēdài · to receive (visitors or guests)据说jùshuō · it is said that决心juéxīn · determination看不起kànbuqǐ · to look down upon夸kuā · to praise

FAQs

借口 (jièkǒu) means “to use as an excuse” or “excuse”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it jièkǒu: jiè with a 4th tone, then kǒu with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 借口 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiekou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 借口 from the suggestions. Typing jiekou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
借口 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.