HSK 1 · Common Objects

钱 qián “money” in Chinese

Traditional 錢

What 钱 means

  1. money
  2. coin
  3. unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 两

Measure word 笔 bǐ · 一笔钱 yì bǐ qián

How to say 钱

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale钱qián2nd tone, rising

钱 in a sentence

  1. 你要多少钱？

    Nǐ yào duōshǎo qián?

    How much money do you want?

    Sentence #476554 from Tatoeba

  2. 问题是他没钱。

    Wèntí shì tā méi qián.

    The problem is, he has no money.

    Sentence #5576801 from Tatoeba

  3. 把我的钱给我。

    Bǎ wǒ de qián gěi wǒ.

    Give me my money.

    Sentence #10182745 from Tatoeba

How 钱 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 钱 (qián) with each of its parts in a different colour
钱qiáncoin
  • 钅gold form of 金 · jīnMeaning part
  • 戋small · jiānSound part

钅 hints at the meaning (gold); 戋 (jiān) hints at the sound. Compare it with qián.

How to write 钱

钱 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 钱

Words with 钱

零钱língqián · change (of money)本钱běnqián · capital压岁钱yāsuìqián · money given to children at Chinese New Year

More words: Everyday Things

书shū · book名字míngzi · name椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table衣服yīfu · clothes舟zhōu · boat专程zhuānchéng · specially (making a special trip)装卸zhuāngxiè · to load and unload

FAQs

钱 (qián) means “money” or “coin”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it qián: qián with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 钱 is written 錢. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 笔 (bǐ). For example, one money is 一笔钱 (yì bǐ qián).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 钱 from the suggestions. Typing qian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
钱 is an HSK 1 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.