扯 (chě) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

扯

chě[che3]Tone 3

to pull, to tear, to chat, ridiculous

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to pull, to tear, to chat, ridiculous

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌, hand) should be compact and narrower, occupying about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (其) is broader and anchors the character's visual weight.

1. Meaning

to pull or tear apart

to buy cloth or thread by measuringto chat or gossip idlyridiculous or unbelievable (colloquial, especially Taiwan)

VerbColloquial#action#speech#evaluation

Sample Usage

别跟他瞎扯。
bié gēn tā xiā chě.
Don't talk nonsense with him / Don't shoot the breeze with him.
这价格也太扯了吧！
zhè jiàgé yě tài chě le ba!
This price is simply ridiculous!

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰɤ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

扯

chěche3

ˇ(214)

=chě

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

che

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "e" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: ch (retroflex sound)

AspiratedRetroflex

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

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate, releasing a strong puff of air

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: eh sounds like the 'u' in 'hut' or 'e' in 'her'

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

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 down like expressing disbelief ('Really?'), then climbs back up.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, chě changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35).

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the retroflex initial 'ch' with the dental affricate 'c'. 'Chě' requires curling the tongue back, whereas 'c' is made with the tongue tip behind the front teeth.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down sharply from mid-height to low chest level, then sweep upward to a high finish.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 7 strokes

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand action, manual movement)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates actions performed with the hand, such as pulling or tearing)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 其 (original sound: qí / chě)

A hand (扌) reaches out to grab and pull apart whatever is represented by 'its' (其) contents, meaning to pull or tear.

扌 Hand action
其 Phonetic clue

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 止 (zhǐ)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and '其' providing the approximate phonetic reading, originally signifying the physical act of pulling or dragging.

Semantic Evolution: From physically pulling fabric or objects apart, the meaning extended to 'tearing', then metaphorically to 'pulling someone into conversation' (chatting/gossiping), and finally in modern slang (especially in Taiwan) to something so absurd it feels pulled out of thin air ('ridiculous').

The colloquial slang usage meaning 'ridiculous' or 'outrageous' stems from shortening phrases like '太扯了' (too far-fetched / pulling things too far).

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

With your hand (扌), you grab a piece of fabric and CHAT (chě) while you PULL and TEAR it apart, making up RIDICULOUS stories.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

止

zhǐto stopPhonetic Core (声旁)

此

cǐthis; these+ 匕 (spoon)

址

zhǐsite; location+ 土 (earth)

耻

chǐshame+ 耳 (ear)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

车(chē)

车 means 'vehicle/car' and lacks the hand radical (扌) entirely.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

他们俩在路边闲[___]半天了。

Clue: chě

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the 3rd tone dipping contour with a flat tone, or missing the retroflex initial 'ch' and pronouncing it like an English 'ch' without curling the tongue back.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 扯 mean when used in modern colloquial slang (e.g. 太扯了)?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to pull or tear' with a hand radical?

扯chěto pull, to tear, to chat, ridiculous

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