HSK 6 · Media

曲子 qǔzi “tune” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 曲子 means

  1. tune
  2. melody
  3. song
  4. poem for singing
  5. music

Measure word 支 zhī · 一支曲子 yì zhī qǔzi

How to say 曲子

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale曲qǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own子zineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

曲子 in a sentence

  1. 你听过这首曲子吗？

    Nǐ tīngguo zhè shǒu qǔzi ma?

    Have you heard this piece before?

    Sentence #4903412 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她在钢琴上弹了一首曲子。

    Tā zài gāngqín shàng tán le yì shǒu qǔzi.

    She played a tune on the piano.

    Sentence #893036 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 这首曲子对我来说太难演奏了。

    Zhè shǒu qǔzi duì wǒ lái shuō tài nán yǎnzòu le.

    This piece is too difficult for me to play.

    Sentence #1323690 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 曲子 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 曲 (qū) with each of its parts in a different colour
曲qǔtune
  • 曰say · yuē
  • 丨line · gǔn
  • 丨line · gǔn
The character 子 (zi) with each of its parts in a different colour
子zinoun suffix, as in 椅子 “chair”
  • 了clear · le
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA baby with its arms out and its legs wrapped up.

How to write 曲子

曲 6 strokes · 子 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 曲子

Words with 曲

歪曲wāiqū · to distort曲折qūzhé · winding

Words with 子

儿子érzi · son椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table杯子bēizi · cup妻子qīzi · wife孩子háizi · child本子běnzi · book子zi · (common noun suffix)裤子kùzi · pants帽子màozi · hat

More words: Media & Arts

偶像ǒuxiàng · idol排练páiliàn · to rehearse情节qíngjié · plot启事qǐshì · notice散文sǎnwén · prose声明shēngmíng · statement审美shěnměi · aesthetic时事shíshì · current affairs

FAQs

曲子 (qǔzi) means “tune” or “melody”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it qǔzi: qǔ with a 3rd tone, then zi with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 曲子 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 支 (zhī). For example, one tune is 一支曲子 (yì zhī qǔzi).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type quzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 曲子 from the suggestions. Typing quzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
曲子 is an HSK 6 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.