挤 (jǐ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

挤

jǐ[ji3]Tone 3

to squeeze / to crowd

HSK 5

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擠

Guru Deep Dive

English · to squeeze / to crowd

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) occupies about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (齐) takes up the remaining two-thirds with a stable, stacked structure.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 擠 uses 齊 on the right, which was simplified to 齐 in simplified Chinese.

1. Meaning

to squeeze, to press, to crowd

to crowd into cram into force others asideto find (time in one's busy schedule)

VerbNeutral#physical action#movement#time management

Sample Usage

地铁里人太多，我们挤不上去。
dìtiě lǐ rén tài duō, wǒmen jǐ bú shàng qù.
There are too many people in the subway, we can't squeeze our way in.
我得挤时间完成这份报告。
wǒ děi jǐ shíjiān wánchéng zhè fèn bàogào.
I have to squeeze out some time to finish this report.

2. Sound

/[t͡ɕi²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

挤

jǐji3

ˇ(214)

=jǐ

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolo-Palatal

Sounds like: j/dr sound (palatal affricate)

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff. Lips spread wide like smiling.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Front of the tongue touches the back of the lower teeth while the middle of the tongue rises to meet the hard palate.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: ee sound as in 'see'

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

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 like a hesitant 'Hmm?' before rising up.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, jǐ changes to a 2nd tone (rising 35), e.g., 挤时间 (jǐ shíjiān) becomes jí shíjiān in speech.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the palatal 'j' with the retroflex 'zh' or alveolar 'z'. 'j' is produced with the flat of the tongue against the hard palate.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a medium-low pitch, dip down toward your chest, and sweep back up into the air like a checkmark.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) occupies about one-third of the width, while the right phonetic component (齐) takes up the remaining two-thirds with a stable, stacked structure.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 擠 uses 齊 on the right, which was simplified to 齐 in simplified Chinese.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (hands, physical actions, manipulation)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates an action performed with the hand or body pressure.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 齐 (original sound: qí / jǐ)

The Hand radical (扌) on the left pushes against the phonetic component (齐), representing physical hands pressing and crowding together.

扌 Hand action
齐 Phonetic and structural component meaning neat/even

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

13· Phonetic Root: 齐 (qí)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) representing physical pushing and 齐 representing the phonetic pronunciation.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to press or crowd closely together, which broadened to include squeezing into crowds and metaphorically 'squeezing out' or finding time in a busy schedule.

The traditional character 擠 preserves the full form of 齊.
Used extensively in daily urban commuting vocabulary.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to push through a NEAT (齐) line of people, trying to SQUEEZE your way onto the crowded train.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

剂

jìdose, medicineUses knife/right component or metal/water variants depending on context, sharing the 齐 phonetic base.

脐

qínavelReplaces hand radical with flesh/moon radical (月) for body parts.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

齐(qí)

Missing the hand radical (扌) on the left; means neat or even.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

早高峰时，地铁里的人太多了，我们要[___]进去。

Clue: jǐ

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the 3rd tone dipping contour with a 4th tone sharp drop, causing mispronunciation as jì.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 挤, what physical action does it represent?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to squeeze' or 'to crowd' with the hand radical?

挤jǐto squeeze / to crowd

Speed:

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