Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) must be narrower and compressed, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (隹) to maintain balanced symmetry.
1. Meaning
to push
to cutto refuseto rejectto declineto shirk (responsibility)to put offto delayto push forwardto nominateto electmassage
VerbNeutral#action#movement#interaction#politics
Sample Usage
请推开这扇门。
Qǐng tuī kāi zhè shàn mén.
Please push open this door.
他推辞了邀请。
Tā tuīcí le yāoqǐng.
He declined the invitation.
2. Sound
/[tʰu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵]/Tone: 55
推
tuītui1
|
++
¯(55)
=tuī
Initial Consonant
t
Type: Aspirated Alveolar
Sounds like: t sound
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 upper front teeth before releasing a burst of air.
Final Rhyme
ui
Vowel Group: -i vowel group
Sounds like: -way sound
Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'way'.
Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.
Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: ui is short for uei
Tone
T1 (55)
5 → 5 (55)
1st Tone (High-Flat)
Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 is flat and sustained at a high pitch, like a musical note held steady without wavering.
👂
Listening trap: Beginners often confuse the initial 't-' with 'd-', or mishear the final '-ui' as just '-i', missing the crucial 'u' glide.
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Physical Tone Gesture: Keep your hand completely flat and steady at the highest level of your vocal range, matching a steady flat line in the air.
3. Writing
Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 11 strokes
Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (扌) must be narrower and compressed, leaving ample space for the right phonetic component (隹) to maintain balanced symmetry.
4. Components
Radical扌 · Hand Radical (hands, physical actions, manual labor)
Semantic Clue (形旁):扌 (indicates physical action done with the hand)
Phonetic Clue (声旁):隹 (original sound: tuī)
A hand (扌) reaches out to push a short-tailed bird (隹) into flight.
扌 Hand component indicating action
隹 Short-tailed bird component providing the sound
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
27· Phonetic Root: 隹 (zhuī)
5. History
Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)
Origin: Originally combined the hand radical (扌) to denote pushing or shoving, paired with the phonetic bird element (隹) which provided the sound tuī in ancient Chinese.
Semantic Evolution: Expanded from physical pushing of objects to abstract concepts such as pushing back (rejecting), pushing forward (nominating), and delaying (pushing time away).
The component 隹 (zhuī) frequently acts as a phonetic anchor for syllables sounding like t- or zh-.
6. Sinosphere
7. Memory
Vivid Mnemonic Story
You use your hand (扌) to push a stubborn bird (隹) off your fence so it flies away.
Phonetic Family (形声字家族)
谁
shéiwhoReplaces the hand radical with a speech radical (讠), asking 'who' speaks.
准
zhǔnaccurateUses the ice radical (冫) on the left instead of a hand, meaning exact or standard.
堆
duīpileKeeps the earth radical (土) on the left, referring to a pile of dirt.
Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)
堆(duī)
堆 has the earth radical (土) on the left (piling dirt), whereas 推 has the hand radical (扌) (pushing).
8. Mastery
Active Recall Challenge
请把这扇门[___]开。
Clue: tuī
Common Learner Pitfall
Confusing the hand radical (扌) on the left with the earth radical (土), which results in writing the wrong character (堆).
Memory Prompts
Recognition: What does 推 mean and how is it pronounced with tones?
Production: How do you write the character for 'to push' using hand and bird components?
Real-World Video Context
Watch authentic native speakers pronounce and explain this word in real-world YouTube videos.
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推tuīto push
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