挺 (tǐng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

挺

tǐng[ting3]Tone 3

quite, very, straight, erect

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · quite, very, straight, erect

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:9

Writing Balance Rule: The left component (扌, hand radical) is narrower and occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (廷) wider and balanced with its sweeping horizontal and vertical extensions.

1. Meaning

quite, very (colloquial degree adverb); straight and erect

to stick out or puff out a part of the bodyto physically straighten upto support or withstandoutstanding or prominentclassifier for machine guns

Adverb / Verb / ClassifierColloquial and neutral#degree#posture#physical action

Sample Usage

这件衣服挺好看的。
Zhè jiàn yīfú tǐng hǎokàn de.
This piece of clothing looks quite nice.
他挺胸抬头，走得很有精神。
Tā tǐng xiōng táitóu, zǒu de hěn yǒujīngshén.
He puffed out his chest and held his head high, walking with great vigor.

2. Sound

/[tʰiŋ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

挺

tǐngting3

ˇ(214)

=tǐng

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: t as in English 'stop' or 'tea'

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Explosive puff of breath! Tissue held before mouth MUST flutter.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing a burst of air.

Final Rhyme

ing

Vowel Group: -i vowel group

Sounds like: -ing rhymes with 'sting'

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

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 back up, similar to how an English speaker says 'Really?' in disbelief.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, tǐng changes to a 2nd tone (tíng), becoming tíng... (e.g., 挺好 tíng hǎo).

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the 3rd tone dipping pitch with the 2nd tone rising pitch, especially when spoken quickly in conversational Chinese.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Start at a mid-high pitch, dip down sharply to your vocal register's floor, and sweep back up high and strong, mimicking a dip-and-recovery gesture with your hand.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 9 strokes

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand, manual action)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates physical actions involving the hand or body posture)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 廷 (original sound: tíng)

A hand (扌) acting to uphold, straighten, or prop up a court hall/structure (廷), giving the combined meaning of standing erect, supporting, or being 'quite' firm and outstanding.

扌 Hand radical indicating physical action
廷 Provides the phonetic sound 'ting'

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

9· Phonetic Root: 廷 (tíng)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) representing physical exertion and posture, and 廷 (tíng) which originally denoted a courtyard or straight hall, lending its sound and a sense of upright structure.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to stretch out or straighten up physically. Over time, the physical action of 'sticking out' or 'standing straight' extended metaphorically to mean 'outstanding' and colloquially as an intensifier meaning 'quite' or 'very'.

The colloquial use of 挺 as 'quite' originated as an extension of standing firm and strong.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

đĩnh

The Vietnamese hỏi/ngã tone corresponds roughly to the Mandarin 3rd tone dipping contour.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: テイ / Kun: nuki.nderu

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

정

Sound Shift Bridge: Mandarin t- maps to Sino-Xenic t/d initials.

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to STRAP UP and STRAIGHTEN a court PILLAR (廷), standing TALL AND ERECT, which is QUITE amazing!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

庭

tíngcourtyardUses the cave/building radical (广) instead of hand (扌) to mean a courtyard.

停

tíngto stopUses the person radical (亻) to show a person stopping.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

特(tè)

特 uses the cow radical (牜) and means 'special', whereas 挺 uses the hand radical (扌) and means 'quite' or 'straight'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这本小说[___]好看的，我推荐你读一读。

Clue: tǐng

Common Learner Pitfall

Forgetting the 3rd tone sandhi rule when 挺 is placed before another 3rd tone syllable, mispronouncing it in its base 3rd tone instead of shifting to 2nd tone.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 挺, what are its two primary functions in daily conversation?

Production: How do you write the character for 'quite/straight' (tǐng) using the hand radical and phonetic component?

挺tǐngquite, very, straight, erect

Speed:

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