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.
铅qiānlead
钅gold form of 金 · jīnMeaning part
几table · jīSound part
口mouth · kǒu
钅 hints at the meaning (gold); 几 (jī) hints at the sound. Compare it with qiān.
笔bǐwriting brush; writing implement
⺮bamboo form of 竹 · zhú
毛fur · máo
Memory aidBamboo ⺮ with hair 毛: a brush, a pen.
How to write 铅笔
铅 10 strokes · 笔 10 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 铅笔 (qiānbǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
铅笔 (qiānbǐ) means “pencil” or “(lead) pencil”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it qiānbǐ: qiān with a 1st tone, then bǐ with a 3rd 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, 铅笔 is written 鉛筆. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 支 (zhī) or 枝 (zhī). For example, one pencil is 一支铅笔 (yì zhī qiānbǐ).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qianbi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 铅笔 from the suggestions. Typing qianbi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
铅笔 is an HSK 2 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.
铅qiān1st tone, high and level
笔bǐ3rd tone, dipping
