撤 (chè) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

撤

chè[che4]Tone 4

to remove; to take away

HSK 6

Guru Deep Dive

English · to remove; to take away

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (Hand radical) occupies about one-third of the width, leaving the remaining two-thirds for the right component, keeping the entire character well-balanced on the imaginary vertical center line.

1. Meaning

to remove, to take away, to withdraw

to evacuateto dismiss, to dischargeto cancel, to rescind

VerbNeutral#action#movement#administration

Sample Usage

请把桌子上的盘子撤了。
Qǐng bǎ zhuōzi shàng de pánzi chè le.
Please remove the plates from the table.
他们决定撤离这个地区。
Tāmèn juédìng chèlí zhège dìqū.
They decided to evacuate this area.

2. Sound

/[t͡ʂʰɤ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

撤

chèche4

`(51)

=chè

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: ch (retroflex ch sound)

AspiratedRetroflex

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

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

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: -eh rhymes with the 'u' in 'hut' or 'uh'

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

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 sharply to the bottom, sounding like an emphatic command in English such as 'Stop!' or 'No!'.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the retroflex initial ch with the alveolar affricate c (cī). Retroflex ch requires tongue curling.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Sharp downward hand chop, starting high and plunging decisively.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand radical (hands, physical actions)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates physical action done with the hands (removing, taking away))

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 育 (original sound: yù / chè phonetic series clue)

A hand (扌) acting upon something to rear, raise, or clear it away (育).

扌 Hand radical indicating physical removal
育 Phonetic and semantic contributor indicating nurturing, clearing out, or development

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) showing physical action and (育) providing the sound and a sense of clearing out or separating.

Semantic Evolution: Originally denoting physical withdrawal or removal by hand, it expanded to abstract concepts like dismissing personnel, canceling agreements, and evacuating locations.

Often used in official and military contexts today, such as 撤职 (to dismiss from office) and 撤退 (to retreat).

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

triệt

The entering tone or short tone equivalent in Sino-Vietnamese corresponds to short checked syllables.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: テツ / Kun: s-hiku

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

철

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

With your hand (扌), you nurture or raise up (育) an old habit, only to completely remove and take it away.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

育

yùto raise, to educateWithout the hand radical, it focuses on nurturing and education.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

彻(chè)

彻 uses the stepping/foot radical (彳) meaning thorough, whereas 撤 uses the hand radical (扌) meaning to remove.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

服务员，请把桌上的空盘子[___]走。

Clue: chè

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 撤 (chè - to remove) with similar characters like 彻 (chè - thorough) or mixing up the retroflex initial ch with c.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 撤, what action does it signify?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to remove' or 'to take away' with 12 strokes?

撤chèto remove; to take away

Speed:

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