HSK 3.0 Level 2 · Things

球 qiú “ball” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 球 means

  1. ball
  2. sphere
  3. globe
  4. ball game
  5. match

Measure word 个 gè or 场 chǎng · 一个球 yí ge qiú

How to say 球

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale球qiú2nd tone, rising

球 in a sentence

  1. 他把球扔了。

    Tā bǎ qiú rēng le.

    He threw the ball.

    Sentence #1411677 from Tatoeba

  2. 把球传给我。

    Bǎ qiú chuán gěi wǒ.

    Pass me the ball.

    Sentence #2002963 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我喜欢看篮球比赛。

    Wǒ xǐhuan kàn lánqiú bǐsài.

    I love watching basketball games.

    Sentence #1933166 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 球 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 球 (qiú) with each of its parts in a different colour
球qiúball used for playing games
  • 王king · wángMeaning part
  • 求to seek · qiúSound part

王 hints at the meaning (king); 求 (qiú) hints at the sound. Compare it with qiú.

Memory aidJade 王 with 求 (qiú) for the sound: a round bead of jade, so a ball.

How to write 球

球 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 球

Words with 球

篮球lánqiú · basketball足球zúqiú · football打篮球dǎlánqiú · to play basketball踢足球tīzúqiú · to play football (football)球场qiúchǎng · (sports) court网球wǎngqiú · tennis地球dìqiú · the earth乒乓球pīngpāngqiú · table tennis羽毛球yǔmáoqiú · shuttlecock球迷qiúmí · fan (ball sports)

More words: Things & Objects

酒店jiǔdiàn · hotel篮球lánqiú · basketball门口ménkǒu · doorway门票ménpiào · entrance ticket (for an attraction书包shūbāo · schoolbag药店yàodiàn · pharmacy足球zúqiú · football声shēng · sound

FAQs

球 (qiú) means “ball” or “sphere”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it qiú: qiú with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 球 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè) or 场 (chǎng). For example, one ball is 一个球 (yí ge qiú).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qiu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 球 from the suggestions. Typing qiu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
球 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older 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.