吃 (chī) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

吃

chī[chi1]Tone 1

to eat

HSK 1

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to eat

Cached lesson

1 / 1

Topology:Left-right

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) should be compact and placed higher up, leaving room for the right phonetic component to spread slightly lower and wider.

1. Meaning

to eat

to consumeto eradicate or destroyto absorbto suffer (shock, injury, defeat)

VerbColloquial#actions#food and dining#sensory experiences

Sample Usage

我喜欢吃中国菜。
Wǒ xǐhuān chī zhōngguó cài.
I like eating Chinese food.
饭前洗手，不要吃细菌。
Fàn qián xǐ shǒu, bú yào chī xìjùn.
Wash your hands before meals and don't ingest bacteria.

2. Sound

/[ʈ͡ʂʰi⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

吃

chīchi1

¯(55)

=chī

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: retroflex unvoiced affricate

AspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: Both curled tongue AND explosive puff of air! Tissue MUST fly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near the hard palate

Final Rhyme

i (-i*)

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound after retroflex

Note: Written as 'i (-i*)', pronounced as rounded 'i' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Combine initial 'zh-' (jr) with final '-i' (rr/zz).

Common Learner Trap: Do NOT pronounce '-i' as 'ee' after zh-! Keep your tongue in the consonant position and buzz 'rr/zz'.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is a high, steady pitch, similar to holding a sustained musical note at the top of your vocal range.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with 'qī' (qi1), which is produced closer to the teeth with a blade-palatal position, or 'cī' (ci1), which is dental and flat-tongued.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand completely flat and high in the air, matching the level, steady pitch of Tone 1.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (mouth radical) should be compact and placed higher up, leaving room for the right phonetic component to spread slightly lower and wider.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth radical (mouth)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Indicates actions involving the mouth, such as eating and speaking.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 乞 (original sound: qi)

The mouth radical (口) on the left pairs with the phonetic component 'to beg/beggar' (乞) on the right, suggesting taking food into the mouth.

口 Mouth (semantic clue for eating)
乞 Phonetic clue providing the sound foundation

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

12· Phonetic Root: 乞 (qǐ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally combined the mouth symbol (口) to denote oral ingestion with a phonetic element (乞) to represent the sound.

Semantic Evolution: While it originally referred strictly to eating food, its meaning expanded over time to encompass absorbing, enduring hardships, and destroying or eroding objects.

The mouth radical is one of the most common semantic keys for actions performed with the face.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You open your MOUTH (口) to beg (乞) for something delicious to EAT (吃).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

吃

chīto eatStandard character for eating.

乞

qǐto begWithout the mouth radical, it means begging.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

乞(qǐ)

Missing the mouth (口) radical on the left; means to beg.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

你今天想[___]什么菜？

Clue: chī

Common Learner Pitfall

Pronouncing 'chī' with a dental or flat tongue position instead of curling the tongue back for the retroflex initial 'ch'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What action does the character 吃 represent, and what is its Pinyin?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to eat' (chī) and what radical does it start with?

吃chīto eat

Speed:

Searching YouTube for native pronunciation videos...

0 / 0