丟 (diū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

丟

diū[diu1]Tone 1

to lose, to put aside, to throw

HSK 5

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丢

Guru Deep Dive

English · to lose, to put aside, to throw

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top horizontal stroke (or short radical part) balanced neatly over the bottom enclosure element, ensuring vertical alignment down the center.

1. Meaning

to lose (something)

to put asideto throwto cast away

VerbNeutral#action#possession#movement

Sample Usage

我把护照丢了。
wǒ bǎ hùzhào diū le.
I lost my passport.
别把这个丢掉。
bié bǎ zhè ge diū diào.
Don't throw this away.

2. Sound

/[tiʊ̯˥˥]/Tone: 55

丟

diūdiu1

¯(55)

=diū

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound in English 'dog'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the alveolar ridge just behind the upper front teeth.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -iu rhymes with 'ew' in 'few' or 'you'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yo'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: iu is short for -iou, with the 'o' acting as a glide between the 'i' and 'u'.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to a musical note sustained at the top of a scale without rising or falling.

👂

Listening trap: Often confused with similar sounds or mistaken for a fourth tone because of its abrupt ending, but it remains high and level.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Flat and high, like a singing note held steady at the top of your voice range with a horizontal hand chop.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the top horizontal stroke (or short radical part) balanced neatly over the bottom enclosure element, ensuring vertical alignment down the center.

4. Components

Radical 𠂉 · One-and-a-half Radical / Person variant (human or cover element)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 去 (provides the phonetic and partial conceptual hint of leaving or going away)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 去 (original sound: qù)

A person (𠂉 variant) is letting go of something as it goes away (去), signifying that an object has been lost or thrown aside.

𠂉 Top variant representing a person or cover
去 Bottom part meaning to leave or depart

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from elements indicating a person letting something go or departing from possessions, representing loss.

Semantic Evolution: Originally conveyed the idea of casting away or leaving behind, which broadened to mean losing items accidentally as well as throwing things out.

The character bridges the concept of physical departure with the psychological or material state of loss.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You watch a PERSON (𠂉) watch their wallet GO AWAY (去) forever—they just DID (diū) lose it!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

去

qùto goBase phonetic component without the top floating stroke hat.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

去(qù)

去 lacks the top horizontal/slanted cap stroke found on 丢.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我的錢包在路上[___]了。

Clue: diū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the stroke order of the top cap and mistaking it for the standalone character 去.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 丢 mean and how is it pronounced with tones?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to lose' (diū)?

丟diūto lose, to put aside, to throw

Speed:

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