Writing Balance Rule: The left side (耳) is slightly compressed, while the right side (又) extends outward to maintain structural stability.
1. Meaning
to take, to get, to fetch, to choose
to extractto adopt (a name or attitude)
VerbNeutral#actions#hand movements#decision making
Sample Usage
我想取钱。
wǒ xiǎng qǔ qián.
I want to withdraw money.
请帮我取一下包裹。
qǐng bāng wǒ qǔ yīxià bāoguǒ.
Please help me fetch the package.
2. Sound
/[tɕʰy²¹⁴]/Tone: 214
取
qǔqu3
|
++
ˇ(214)
=qǔ
Initial Consonant
q
Type: Aspirated Alveolo-Palatal
Sounds like: ch sound produced with the tongue flat behind lower teeth
Aspirated
Airflow Tactile Test: Extremely strong burst of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST fly.
Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of tongue approaches the hard palate, releasing a sharp burst of air.
Final Rhyme
u
Vowel Group: -v vowel group
Sounds like: ee sound with rounded lips (like French 'u' in 'tu')
Note: Written as 'u', pronounced as rounded 'ü' [y].
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ü'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Tone
T3 (214)
2 → 1 → 4 (214)
3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises, exactly like saying 'What?' in English when asking for clarification.
Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3 syllable, qǔ changes to a Tone 2 rising pitch (35), becoming qú qián conceptually in running speech, though written tone remains unchanged.
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often confuse 'qǔ' with 'qū' (Tone 1) or 'qù' (Tone 4) because the initial and final are identical; pay strict attention to the dipping and rising pitch contour.
👋
Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from your chest level and sweep back up to chin height.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left side (耳) is slightly compressed, while the right side (又) extends outward to maintain structural stability.
4. Components
Radical又 · Right Hand Radical (hand, again)
Semantic Clue (形旁):又 (Represents a hand reaching out to grasp something.)
In ancient times, taking an ear (耳) from a defeated enemy in battle served as proof of victory. Thus, combining 'ear' (耳) and 'hand' (又) creates the concept of 'taking' (取).
耳 ear
又 hand
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
5· Phonetic Root: 取 (qǔ)
5. History
Liushu category: Compound ideogram (会意)
Origin: Oracle bone scripts show a hand (又) plucking or holding an ear (耳), historically reflecting the brutal ancient practice of taking trophies of war.
Semantic Evolution: Over centuries, the gruesome military origin softened into the general, everyday action of taking, fetching, withdrawing, or choosing anything.
The character bridges physical combat spoils with abstract acts like choosing a name or withdrawing money.
6. Sinosphere
🇻🇳
Sino-Vietnamese
thủ
Mandarin Tone 3 corresponds to Vietnamese hỏi or ngã tones depending on historical phonetic shifts.
🇯🇵
Kanji (Japanese)
On: シュ / Kun: と.る
🇰🇷
Hanja (Korean)
취
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
Imagine going to the bank to WITHDRAW money: you reach out your HAND (又) to grab your EAR (耳) in disbelief at how high the fees are! That action of taking money is 'qǔ'.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
趣
qùinteresting, funAdd the running enclosure (走) on the left to indicate running toward something interesting.
娶
qǔto marry a womanAdd the woman component (女) at the bottom to mean taking a bride.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
去(qù)
去 means 'to go' and has 土 at the bottom instead of 又, and uses Tone 4 instead of Tone 3.
受(shòu)
受 means 'to receive', whereas 取 means 'to take actively with your hand'.
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
我去银行[___]钱。
Clue: qǔ
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the tone contour of qǔ (Tone 3 dipping) with qù (Tone 4 falling), which completely changes the meaning to 'to go'.
Memory Prompts
Recognition: When you see the character 取, what primary action does it represent?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to take' or 'to withdraw money' using the components 'ear' and 'hand'?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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取qǔto take
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