HSK 6 · Money

压岁钱 yāsuìqián “money given to children at Chinese New Year” in Chinese

Traditional 壓歲錢

What 压岁钱 means

  1. money given to children at Chinese New Year
  2. money given to children as a gift on Chinese New Year’s Eve

How to say 压岁钱

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale压yā1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale岁suì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale钱qián2nd tone, rising

压岁钱 in a sentence

  1. 过年的时候，奶奶给了我一个装着压岁钱的红包。

    Guònián de shíhou, nǎinai gěi le wǒ yí ge zhuāng zhe yāsuìqián de hóngbāo.

    At Chinese New Year, Grandma gave me a red envelope with lucky money inside.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 孩子们最盼望过年收压岁钱。

    Háizimen zuì pànwàng guònián shōu yāsuìqián.

    What children look forward to most at New Year is getting lucky money.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 压岁钱 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 压 (yā) with each of its parts in a different colour
压yāto press
  • 厂cliff · hǎn
  • 土earth · tǔ
  • 丶dot · zhǔ
The character 岁 (suì) with each of its parts in a different colour
岁suìyears old
  • 山mountain · shān
  • 夕evening · xī
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 压岁钱

压 6 strokes · 岁 6 strokes · 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.

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

Words related to 压岁钱

Words with 压

压力yālì · pressure血压xuèyā · blood pressure压缩yāsuō · to compress压榨yāzhà · to squeeze压制yāzhì · to suppress压抑yāyì · to suppress (emotions)压迫yāpò · to oppress气压qìyā · air pressure

Words with 岁

岁suì · year(s) of age岁月suìyuè · years

Words with 钱

钱qián · money零钱língqián · change (of money)本钱běnqián · capital

More words: Money & Economy

效益xiàoyì · benefit兴隆xīnglóng · prosperous信誉xìnyù · reputation需求xūqiú · demand盈利yínglì · profit用户yònghù · user预算yùsuàn · budget攒zǎn · to save up

FAQs

压岁钱 (yāsuìqián) means “money given to children at Chinese New Year” or “money given to children as a gift on Chinese New Year’s Eve”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it yāsuìqián: yā with a 1st tone, then suì with a 4th tone, then 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, 压岁钱 is written 壓歲錢. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yasuiqian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 压岁钱 from the suggestions. Typing yasuiqian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
压岁钱 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.