带 (dài) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

带

dài[dai4]Tone 4

belt, band, to carry, to bring

HSK 2

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帶

Guru Deep Dive

English · belt, band, to carry, to bring

Cached lesson

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Topology:Compound word

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof structure crowns the character symmetrically, while the lower hanging cloth section must be centered and balanced beneath it.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 帶 by streamlining the middle strokes representing cloth and the lower hanging sash into simpler modern components while preserving the silhouette.

1. Meaning

belt, band, strap

zone or regionto wear or carryto lead or bring alongto take charge of

Noun / VerbNeutral#clothing#geography#action#leadership

Sample Usage

请随身携带护照。
Qǐng suíshēn xiédài hùzhào.
Please carry your passport with you.
这条裤子需要一根皮带。
Zhè tiáo kùzi xūyào yī gēn pídài.
This pair of pants needs a leather belt.

2. Sound

/[taɪ̯⁵¹]/Tone: 51

带

dàidai4

`(51)

=dài

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound like English d in '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, releasing a gentle voiced plosive.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ai rhymes with 'eye' or 'tie'

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

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

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops immediately to the bottom of your vocal range, exactly like shouting 'NO!' in frustration.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 4 syllable, it changes to a rising tone (35 contour), though in standard rapid speech it retains its strong falling nature.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse it with Tone 1 (dāi) or Tone 3 (dǎi); the sharp downward pitch is crucial to native comprehension.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A swift, sharp karate chop downward from head height to waist level, matching the abrupt drop of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Compound word · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top roof structure crowns the character symmetrically, while the lower hanging cloth section must be centered and balanced beneath it.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from 帶 by streamlining the middle strokes representing cloth and the lower hanging sash into simpler modern components while preserving the silhouette.

4. Components

Radical 巾 · Cloth Radical (cloth, napkin, turban)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 巾 (indicates that the original meaning relates to a piece of fabric or a sash worn around the waist.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 冖 (original sound: dai)

A headband or belt (带) is depicted as a cover/roof structure (冖) worn over a piece of cloth (巾) hanging down.

冖 cover or top headband part
巾 cloth or hanging sash

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 带 (dài)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: In Oracle Bone and Bronze scripts, it originally depicted a person wearing a sash or belt decorated with cloth tassels around their waist.

Semantic Evolution: From a physical belt or sash of cloth, it expanded metaphorically to mean carrying something with you, wearing items, leading people, and geographical zones (belts of land).

Ancient Chinese garments lacked buttons and relied entirely on fabric belts (带) to stay fastened.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

đái

Matches the falling/glottalized Vietnamese tone structure closely.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: タイ (tai) / Kun: おび (obi)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

대

Sound Shift Bridge: Shared ancient roots across East Asian Sinosphere vocabulary regarding belts and zones.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine wearing a cloth belt (带) around your waist while carrying luggage and leading a tour group into a new geographical zone.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

滞

zhìstuck, stagnateAdd water (氵) to indicate water getting stuck or delayed.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

戴(dài)

戴 means to wear on top (like a hat or glasses), featuring a complex structure on top, whereas 带 is a belt/cloth sash.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

出门的时候别忘了[___]雨伞。

Clue: dài

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 带 (to bring/belt) with 戴 (to wear accessories on the head/face), or misapplying Tone 4 pitch direction.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 带, what are its primary meanings as a noun and a verb?

Production: How do you write the character for 'belt' or 'to bring' (dài) with 9 strokes?

带dàibelt, band, to carry, to bring

Speed:

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