HSK 6 · Verbs

挑拨 tiǎobō “to stir up trouble” in Chinese

Traditional 挑撥

What 挑拨 means

  1. to stir up trouble
  2. to sow discord
  3. to incite disharmony
  4. to instigate

How to say 挑拨

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale挑tiǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale拨bō1st tone, high and level

挑拨 in a sentence

  1. 别听他挑拨，我们还是好朋友。

    Bié tīng tā tiǎobō, wǒmen háishi hǎo péngyou.

    Don’t listen to him stirring things up; we’re still good friends.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 有人想挑拨他们的关系。

    Yǒurén xiǎng tiǎobō tāmen de guānxi.

    Someone is trying to drive a wedge between them.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 挑拨 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 挑 (tiǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
挑tiǎoto raise
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 兆omen · zhàoSound part

扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 兆 (zhào) hints at the sound. Compare it with tiǎo.

The character 拨 (bō) with each of its parts in a different colour
拨bōto push aside with the hand, foot
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 发to issue · fā

How to write 挑拨

挑 9 strokes · 拨 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 挑拨

Words with 挑

挑战tiǎozhàn · to challenge挑衅tiǎoxìn · to provoke挑剔tiāoti · fussy

Words with 拨

拨bō · to dial

More words: Thinking & Talking

探索tànsuǒ · to explore探讨tàntǎo · to discuss讨好tǎohǎo · to please滔滔不绝tāotāobùjué · to talk non-stop提示tíshì · to prompt提议tíyì · to propose透露tòulù · to reveal推测tuīcè · to speculate

FAQs

挑拨 (tiǎobō) means “to stir up trouble” or “to sow discord”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it tiǎobō: tiǎo with a 3rd tone, then bō with a 1st 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, 挑拨 is written 挑撥. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tiaobo with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 挑拨 from the suggestions. Typing tiaobo into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
挑拨 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.